Between Light and Darkness
by RedEyedSurprise
Summary: Hours after Edward left Bella in the woods, the world is attacked by the Heartless. Bella, Charlie and even the Cullens are sucked into a black vortex. They are spirited away to unknown worlds. And to face unknown danger.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts. I only own the voice... Well, you'll find out soon.

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Chapter One

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"_You don't want me?"_

"_No."_

Curled up on her side and laying in the middle of that forest, it was like she was in some sort of catatonic state. She knew that at some point she was going to have to get up and go home. Home to Charlie, who was no doubt sending out the search dogs for her. It had already been hours since…

She sighed. Bella's heart hurt too much to move.

It felt as if it was going to stop any moment now.

_Crack_

Lightning lit up the sky and Bella flinched. She turned her head to look up. The trees were partially covering the sky but she could make out a dark patch of cloud here and there.

Feeling somewhat lethargic she pulled herself up into a sitting position as the wind began blow something awful. The forest trees began to sway with the wind and the bushes rustled violently.

Bella pulled herself into a standing position with the help of a small tree and then froze. The violently howling wind had stopped in an instant and the trees had still. The bushes came to stop. Except for one.

Staring at the bush that was still rustling, Bella hoped it was only a scared rabbit or a doe. What slinked out of the bush was most certainly not an animal. It quite possibly wasn't even a resident of Earth.

This shiny black thing was about the size of a five year old. It's eyes were bulbous and just as equally black. The two little antennae moved back and forth as if trying to sense vibrations in the air.

Bella gulped and backed away. And she promptly tripped on a protruding root of a tree. Falling hard onto her bottom she yelped loudly, getting the little creature's attention.

It suddenly faced her and barred it's teeth to her. They were sharp, shark looking gray and black teeth. It let out a growl like a vicious attack dog and lunged for her.

Bella screamed and kicked away from the little monster. With her shoe she kicked it straight in the abdomen, sending it flying back into the bushes it had come from. She took this opportunity to scramble up from the floor. Bella ran as fast as her feet could take her. Despite the fact that she could not hear anything following her she could not shake the feeling that the little black monster was right on her heels.

Blasts that sounded like gun shots rang loudly through the forest from somewhere in the direction to her right. Bella began to run in that direction, panting for breath. Her calves were beginning to feel the exertion and she was beginning to slow.

With a look over her shoulder she was able to deduce that the _thing_, whatever it had been, was no longer following after her. If it had ever followed her to begin with, that was.

Bella bent over, her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Two more gun shots banged and she flinched. The wind was beginning to pick up again, moving the trees and the bushes.

A voice was being carried by the wind.

Bella knew whose voice that was.

"Charlie!" she screamed. "Dad!"

She began to run again, jumping over tree stumps and through thickets. A vine from a thorn bush hit her across the face. Blood from a fresh cut dripped out and slipped down to her chin like a tear. But Bella barely registered the pain.

Her main objective was to get to her father.

Something was happening. She could feel it in her bones. Bella could feel it in her _soul_. Something terrible was happening _now_. And something even more terrible was going to happen _soon_.

She had to get to Charlie!

Edward…

No! Bella shook her head a few times to keep him out of her thoughts. He was gone by now. Long gone. She had to remember that he did not care about her anymore, if he ever did in the first place. Her heart ached, but she pushed those feeling to the side.

She stumbled out of the forest and to a stop. Bella was standing on the other side of a wide paved street that was between her and her home. And she could not believe her eyes.

The clouds were swirling over head, they were black as night. The light that did manage to escape through set an eerie lighting around the grounds of Charlie's home. Charlie himself was standing on his front lawn, gun in hand.

He was surrounded by the black little monsters.

"Dad!" Bella screamed from the other side of the road.

Charlie fired his gun twice. His first shot hit a monster through the chest and the second missed. The monster that he been able to hit evaporated into a black mist and disappeared. But another appeared in it's place.

"Don't come any closer, Bella!" Charlie shouted to her, firing his gun two more times in succession.

Bella stayed her ground, but she couldn't help wanting to run right over. She stopped in the middle of the street and watched. After one more shot, Charlie tried to shoot again. He was out of ammunition.

"Son of a -- ARGH!!"

Bella gasped, covering her mouth. She watched helplessly as a monster jumped onto his back from behind. Charlie yelled out in pain as it sunk it's sharp black teeth into his shoulder.

_You can help him, Isabella…_

She shook her head in distress at the voice that had suddenly appeared and whispered in her head. It was a kind voice, though she could not tell if it was from a man or a woman. It was as if someone were whispering into her ear right beside her.

_You are a Chosen One for your Earth, Isabella….._

_You must use the Key Blade…_

Bella moved her arm in front of her, somehow she consciously knew what to do and watched as her fingers grasped at air. They looked as if they were wrapping around something.

And she could _feel_ it.

Just as suddenly as she had felt something, her hand lit up and gasped for breath. Gold and silver sparks were flying in front of her. They spun around her hand and upward. The sparks suddenly joined together beautifully.

A sword.

They formed into a sword.

It was beautiful. A beautiful blue and gold combination on the hilt. The blade itself was long. And at the very end were two very peculiar looking rectangles that jutted out.

"It looks like a key," Bella whispered to herself, entranced.

_Use it well, Isabella….. Help your father…_

She sprang into action. Bella ran to her father just as another little monster lunged for him. With swing the sword cut right into it.

She stabbed, lunged and jabbed at the little monsters. It was as if the movements were ingrained into her very being. Bella had never felt more confident and more… graceful.

Bella felt alive as she eliminated them all.

Charlie, who was able to pull off the little monster, watched from the sidelines as his daughter took care of the rest of the monsters. He took out a rag from his back pants pocket and pushed down at his bleeding wound.

After defeating the last one with a good jab through the back, Bella turned to her father. She dropped the sword and watched as it disappeared with a shower of sparks. She ran to Charlie, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she breathed into his chest.

Charlie wrapped his free arm around her, for the first time not feeling the least bit uncomfortable around his teenage daughter. He was just relieved that she was okay.

"What's happening, Dad?"

He shook his head with a frown. "I don't know. I flipped on the TV and on every channel it's all this news shit. They're saying that it's the apocalypse-- Damn it! There's another one of them!"

Bella turned quickly and crouched into a fighting stance. The sword appeared into her hand in an instant. The monster that Charlie had been talking about was most definitely related to the ones she had taken care of. But it sure wasn't the same.

It was bigger. Way bigger. It was maybe the size of Bella herself.

"Bella! Don't!" Charlie yelled, reaching out to grab a hold of his daughter.

But it was too late. Bella lunged for it, anticipating on cutting it down to vapor, just as the other ones had been killed. Unfortunately it was too fast for her.

The monster ducked under her sword as Bella swung. It sunk into the ground as if melting into a black gooey mess. Bella watched as the black goo that had formerly been the monster expanded quickly. She tried to back away from it, but it was forming just too fast.

"Bella!" she heard Charlie shout as she sunk knee deep into the blackness.

She dropped the sword and it disappeared just as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Charlie hugged her close, trying in vain to pull them both out of the black quick sand. They sunk quickly to their waists and Bella began to sob.

"What do we do?!" She sobbed, turning successfully in the blackness to face and hold onto Charlie.

Her father looked down at her sadly, a tear escaping his eye as they sank down to the middle of their chests. He held her tighter and kissed her brow.

_Don't be afraid... Never be afraid, Isabella..._

Bella nodded to herself and pressed her face into Charlie's chest as the blackness sucked them deeper. Her vision was beginning to go out of focus and she closed her eyes.

"Bella!" someone screamed in agony.

She felt Charlie's breathing even out and his arms loosen their hold on her. The goo was just to her chin now.

"BELLA!"

And then everything was black.

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A/N: Reviews and feedback would be great. Mostly feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight ot Kingdom Hearts.**

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Chapter Two

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The first thing that registered in her mind was the hardness of the cobbled floor. Bella pulled herself into a standing position and groaned. To her left were a few trash cans and behind them were stacks of crates and boxes. They completely blocked the way out to that side so she turned to her right. Bella sighed in relief as she saw the exit.

In the back of her mind, she knew that she must not be on Earth any longer. There was no way the goo that she and Charlie had sunk into had taken them back to Earth.

She gasped. Charlie. Bella had no idea where Charlie was!

"Are you alright?"

Bella tensed and looked up from the cobbled floor. A young woman in her twenties stood at the alley exit. She was wearing a pink strapless dress and brown work boots. Her brown hair was pulled into a long braid that fell over her shoulder.

"I'm Aerith," the woman introduced herself. "And I don't believe I have ever seen you before. Are you by any chance from another world?"

Bella nodded, her chest tightening with emotion. She put her head down and her brown hair fell to cover her face. A gentle hand laid itself on her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

"It's going to be okay," Aerith whispered.

_Don't be afraid…. Go with her…. All will be put to right…._

"My name is Bella," she whispered. "I'm from Forks, Washington."

"Earth, I take it?" asked Aerith.

Bella nodded.

"I don't know what happened, " Bella whispered. "There were these black monsters and me and my dad got sucked into this black quick sand stuff."

She picked up her head and watched as Aerith nodded sadly.

"Why don't you come with me, Bella," said Aerith softly, her voice radiating calm. "I was just about to grab a bite to eat. I'll get you something too, okay?"

Bella nodded as she let Aerith steer her out of the alley.

"While we eat," Aerith spoke on. "I should probably explain a few things to you about those black little monsters, Bella. And I will explain what has happened to your Earth."

Bella nodded again. Aerith led her into a large courtyard with many tall lamps. To their left was an open jewelry shop of sorts and to their right was another shop and an outdoor tavern. She allowed Aerith to lead her slowly to the outdoor cavern.

_Everything will be alright…_

Bella nodded to herself and to the voice in her head. It was a woman's voice this time. A woman was reassuring her that everything would be okay.

And Bella believed in her.

Aerith and Bella sat at a table with their backs to a stone wall. It seemed that they both had the idea to keep their eyes peeled for any approaching danger. Aerith was the one to order for them. A barmaid in a brown stained dress took their orders and then left.

"Where should I start?" Aerith said more to herself than to Bella after the barmaid had brought their food to them. "I should probably start with the little black monsters huh?"

Bella nodded and straightened in alertness.

"You see," Aerith began. "The little black monsters are very complicated to explain, Bella. I know that there are many different kinds. And their names are Heartless …"

~*~

She laid her head down on the pillow and allowed the new information she had just learned to repeat itself in her mind. And Bella believed it. How could she not, really? Look where she was!

She was on a new planet and in a place called Traverse Town!

After they had finished their meal at the Traverse Tavern, Aerith had taken her to the 2nd District and paid for two rooms at an Inn. One room had two full beds and the other was a regular room with a queen. Bella and Aerith would be taking the room with the two beds and the other… Well, Aerith hadn't elaborated.

"The other room is for a friend, Bella," was the only answer that Aerith had given her.

In all honestly, Bella had wanted to ask who the other friend was but she was just too exhausted. Aerith had given her a pajama set to change into. A flannel shirt and a pair of short flannel sleep shorts. Aerith had left afterward, saying that she had an important meeting to keep with the same friend.

"I'll be back before midnight," Aerith promised in her soft and breathy voice.

Bella had just nodded. She locked the door after Aerith had left and made sure all the windows were secured. She turned down the lights and then she scrambled to the bed she had chosen for herself. Bella pulled the cover over her and up to her chin.

There was a faint light coming from the one big window in the Inn room. It was no doubt from a street lamp.

"Dammit all," Bella cursed to herself loudly.

She had been exhausted and as soon as she was in the bed, Bella was not able to get to sleep. Bella just couldn't. There too many things going on in her mind. She was alone in a new world. Without Charlie. Bella had no idea where Charlie could be, but Aerith had assured her that since it was both she had Charlie who had gotten sucked down into the vortex together, then he had to be alive.

It really did make her feel better. Bella was certain that she and Charlie would find each other again. When? She had no idea, but she hoped it would be soon.

But there was still one more question on her mind.

What about _them_? The … Cullens.

Bella gulped and instantly began to curse herself. She couldn't even think about their names without a big twinge of pain hitting her in her chest. Bella turned over to her side and whimpered. She willed herself to put the Cullens -- _twinge_-- to the back of her mind.

She sat up in the bed and placed her face into her hands. Her eyes were filling with tears and she desperately rubbed them away, willing them to stop.

_No_, she thought to herself. _Stop it! Don't think! You can't fall apart now! I'm going to search this whole universe for Charlie and then we are going to find some way to restore Earth to the way it was…_

Knock, Knock_._

Bella jumped up from the bed with a gasping squeal. Some one was at the door… _What should I do?_ Bella stopped and frowned at herself. _Well, duh Bella_, she thought to herself. _Answer the friggin' door!!_

She approached the door and hesitantly looked through the peep hole to see who was knocking. Bella let out a breath of relief when she saw Aerith standing outside of the door. Unlocking the door as quickly as she could, Bella wrenched the door open.

Aerith smile at her. "I didn't wake you, did I Bella?"

Bella shook her head. "No! I'm actually finding it hard to go to sleep now… Did you get to make it to your meeting with your friend?"

"No," Aerith said sadly, her smile turning into a concerned frown. "He didn't show up. But I did meet some new people."

Walking further into the Inn room, Aerith smiled widely at Bella. Two figures suddenly followed her in.

"Bella," said Aerith in her soft and breathy voice. "I want you to meet Donald and Goofy."

Eyes wide and mouth gaping open, Bella sat down hard onto her bed and watched as a large dog and a duck approached her with friendly smiles. They were both dressed in clothes. The dog, who was standing on his hind legs and walking like a normal human was wearing shoes. The duck on the other hand (which happened to be the largest duck she had ever seen in her life) was shoe and pants-less.

"Hello Bella," said the duck, his voice absolutely sounding close to a regular duck's quack. "My name is Donald Duck. It's very nice to meet you."

"Hyuck, hyuck," the dog laughed in delight. "It's a pleasure making your acquaintance, Bella. I'm Goofy!"

Bella gulped and nodded. "Err… yeah."

Aerith, Goofy and Donald watched as Bella's eyes rolled back into her head. Bella fell back into her bed, unconscious. They all gasped and surrounded her. Aerith looked at her closely and then sighed in relief.

"She just fainted," Aerith said in relief. "I think everything has finally hit her, poor girl."

She pushed her braided hair onto her other shoulder and then tucked Bella in. After ward, Aerith sat at the foot of Bella's bed and looked to Goofy and Donald.

"Should I start from the beginning?" Aerith asked them.

Donald and Goofy shared a look before nodding.

"Okay," she said, "You know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?"

"Yeah," Donald nodded.

"But they're supposed to be a secret," Goofy said, covering his mouth in shock.

Unbeknownst to all three of them, Bella dozed slightly. She frowned and blinked her eyes wearily before closing them. She was becoming more and more aware as she fought to stay conscious.

"They've been secret because they've never been connected," Aerith explained calmly. "Until now."

"Until now," Bella whispered to herself, drawing their attention to her. "When those Heartless began to attack."

Aerith nodded. "When the Heartless came everything changed."

Bella turned over and closed her eyes, blocking out the conversation from her mind. She wished that she could just go back. As she slipped into deep sleep, Bella wished and hoped that when she woke up from this nightmare she would be back home.

Of course, Bella knew better.

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**A/N: The next chapter is going to be mainly from the Cullen's POV of the story. Reviews and feedback are appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts. Oh, poo.

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**Chapter Three**

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An expensive imported car raced through the freeway with five passengers. Emmett Cullen drove his car with giddy and child-like abandon while his wife, Rosalie Cullen sat in the passenger seat flipping through an automobile catalog. In the back seat sat the other Cullen siblings. Jasper immediately behind Rosalie and Edward behind Emmett. Alice had managed to squish herself in the middle of them both.

At this moment in time Alice was dry sobbing. If she were capable of crying like any normal human being was able she would have already soaked the front of her shirt.

Jasper wrapped a comforting arm around his wife. "Shh.."

Alice shook her head. "No! I w-want to stay! I h-have to stay!"

Pursing her lips, Rosalie grumbled under her breath and Emmett sighed. Edward ignored them all and turned his pained face toward the window. Jasper continued to comfort his love.

"I really wanted to stay too, little sister," Emmett said quietly from the front seat as he swerved in and out of traffic.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Are both of you honestly hung up about some silly human pest? Good riddance is all I have to say."

"You shut the fuck up," Alice suddenly screeched. She pointed a well manicured finger at the startled blonde in the passenger seat. "You're jealous! Fucking admit it already! You were jealous the whole time of Bella just because she had working ovaries _and you don't_!"

The whole car was suddenly in quiet shock. Never had they heard Alice scream in such a way and use such harsh words. And especially not at Rosalie, of all people.

"How dare you!" Rosalie screamed, her catalog magazine forgotten as she turned in her seat and desperately tried to get her hands around her sister's throat. "You bitch!"

Jasper hissed at the blonde in the front seat as he fought to simultaneously keep Rosalie away from his wife and Alice away from Rosalie. The emotions of rage were almost too much for him and he felt as if he could snap Rosalie's head off with a single hand.

"No Rosie!" Emmett yelled as he grabbed her by the collar and tried to yank her away.

With the other hand Emmett pulled the car off of the free way and onto a deserted street. As soon as they parked they were out of the car. Emmett restrained Rosalie while Jasper held onto Alice. Another car pulled up beside their's and Carlisle and Esme were out of it in a flash.

"What on Earth is going on here?!" Carlisle thundered, looking angry and disappointed for the first time in years. "What has gotten into all of you?!"

Alice was the one to answer. She screeched at the top of her lungs and pointed her manicured finger again. And it was pointed straight at Edward, who turned away from them. He walked toward Carlisle and Esme's car and set his hands onto the hood to lean on.

"IT'S HIS FAULT!!"

Closing his eyes, Edward listened on and on as Alice sobbingly rambled about leaving Forks to Carlisle and anyone else who would listen. He could hear the thoughts of Rosalie as Emmett ushered her back into their car.

"_How dare she!!"_

It surprised him that Rosalie's emotions had turned from anger to sorrow. And then he grew sad as her emotions veered quickly back to their familiar anger.

"_Alice is probably right," _Rosalie thought to herself. _"If Edward hadn't made the decision for this family to leave Forks and … Her… None of this wouldn't be happening. This family -- that had been united together for many decades -- wouldn't be falling apart in just mere days! …. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU PRICK!"_

Edward raised his head with wide eyes and met Rosalie's angered and emotional ones. Her top lip raised in a silent snarl and then he looked away. He barely registered the presence behind him. A dainty hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

"Edward, sweetheart," Esme asked him softly. "Are you alright?"

Taking his eyes away from his sister's, he turned them to his mother. Before Esme's eyes, Edward's face contorted and broke. She took him into her arms and he laid his head onto her shoulder as he moaned in sorrow silently. Edward wrapped his arms tightly around his mother as she ushered him to the back seat of a car. It was Carlisle's.

"Your father and I will always support what you believe is right for this family, Edward," said Esme softly in his ear. "Now, I want you to calm down in the car while your father and I settle everyone down."

He watched as Esme reached over to turn on the radio and then she got out of the car and closed the door behind her. Edward closed his eyes and began to block all of their thoughts out. It wasn't an easy thing for him to do, so he focused just on the sounds and voices coming from the radio.

"We have an emergency bulletin report here at 103.5 KZNP," a man's voice interrupted the music.

Edward lifted his head and reached over to turn the volume all the way up. From the corner of his eye he could see Carlisle and Esme stiffen and tense. He could tell that they too was listening now. Edward opened the car door and watched as his brothers and sisters also stiffen and listen warily.

The man's voice came back on. His voice wobbled with fear and urgency.

"We have just gotten some news from the local television station," the radio personality said. "It seems that we -- and I mean the United States Government and Army -- have lost contact with Hawaii and Alaska just a few hours ago --"

"The Denali Clan…?" Edward heard Carlisle whisper to Esme in question.

The man's voice began to wobble again. "And just a few minutes ago it was confirmed that we have also lost contact with Canada, Japan, Australia and Russia. This seems to be some kind of … I have no other word to call it but _invasion_… There is footage all over the internet by eyewitnesses of these little black _monsters _coming out of these black holes that appear out of nowhere…"

Edward turned his puzzled gaze to Carlisle who wore his own puzzled expression. A strange feeling at the pit of his stomach was growing, but he listened on.

"Where ever you are, you need to get home," the man's voice took on a new kind of urgency and panic. "You need to barricade yourself where they can't get you. These monsters -- they're _killing _people! --"

Everyone's emotions quickly turned from puzzled to horrified.

"It doesn't matter where you are," the man said quietly as the radio began to attract static. "They find you. These little monsters. It's as if they can hear your heart… Hear your soul as if it's whispering to them… And then they find you and devour it…."

The radio suddenly went completely to static.

In a flash, Edward was in the front seat with his hand on the radio dial. He searched for a station, any station. But all he got was static. He turned the radio off as he suddenly realized what the feeling at the pit of his stomach was.

Fear.

For Bella.

"Edward wait!" Alice suddenly screamed.

Edward knew that his sister would know exactly what he would do because of her gifts.

In a flash she was in the passenger seat beside him. Edward started the car and then took off as the rest of the family watched. They all hurried quicker than a blink of the eye toward Emmett's car, except for Jasper who suddenly appeared in the back seat directly behind Alice's seat. He had somehow been able to catch up to them as Edward reached the forty mile an hour notch on the speedometer.

"Where are we going?" Jasper asked Edward and his wife incredulously as the speedometer reached ninety.

"Forks," Edward and Alice answered together.

Alice suddenly stiffened and her eyes glazed over. Jasper reached over and a set a hand on his wife's shoulder as she came back from her vision.

"What did you see?" both Edward and Jasper asked her simultaneously.

"I saw Bella!" she said in panic. "You need to go faster! Faster Edward! Drive faster!"

Edward grimaced as he pushed his foot as far down as the pedal would allow him. Damn, he shoulder have taken Emmett's car. Then again, Rosalie, who was sitting in the car at the time, probably would have kicked his ass for coming anywhere near her.

Sure, he loved his blonde haired sister. But there was no lying about her. Rosalie is a bitch.

All in all, Edward was very sure that the drive back to Forks (at past one hundred miles an hour) was the longest five minutes of his un-life.

Emmett, who had actually been able to keep up with Edward's reckless driving, screeched his car to a halt beside Edward's as they stopped in front of the Swan residence.

But they arrived much too late.

The whole Cullen family looked on in horror. The sight before them was this:

Bella and Charlie shoulder deep in a black vortex.

"Bella!" Alice screamed in pain.

Edward fell to his knees and sobbed outright with his sister, Alice.

"_BELLA_!" he screamed in agony, horror and in love.

He suddenly scrambled to his feet in the blink of the eye and threw himself toward the swirling black vortex. Edward just knew that if he could get a hand on any piece of Bella or Charlie he would be able to drag them to safely.

"Edward!" he heard the screams from his family as he landed knee deep in the black goo-like substance.

"NO!" he heard his father, Jasper and Rosalie roar as he reached for Bella and Charlie, both of whom he could only see the tops of their head.

Edward turned his head and saw with wide eyes that Alice, his mother and Emmett had joined him in the black vortex. Carlisle, Jasper and Rosalie were the next ones to jump in.

"Go back!" Edward yelled.

"Oh my God!" Esme screamed as the vortex suddenly sucked them in chest deep. "Edward!"

Esme reached for him and Edward reached for his mother, just as the vortex sucked them neck deep.

"I love you," Esme screamed. "I love all of you so much…!"

Their vision was blurring, which was a very peculiar feeling for them since it had been a long while since any of them had fallen into a peaceful slumber. But that was exactly how it felt. It felt as if all of them were falling to sleep.

While they all fought off the feeling, Edward welcomed it. He ignored the screams of his name from his mother, father and siblings and went limp in the vortex as it began to completely swallow him whole.

What did he have left to lose anyhow? Bella was gone. She had been submerged into the vortex far too long and it had probably killed her and soon enough he would be joining her. With a smile on his lips he sighed the only name that he could ever want to have on his tongue.

_"Bella…"_

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**A/N: You know, this is actually the first time that I am attempting to write a cross over. This is also my first time writing a fan fiction of Twilight and Kingdom Hearts. I hope I'm doing alright? Review and feedback would be great.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts.**

**A/N: I had originally planned to post this chapter on Sunday but for some reason the site wouldn't let me upload the chapter. It was really a pain in my ss and giving me unnecessary grief. Thank goodness it finally let me upload again.**

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**Chapter Four**

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Rosalie Cullen sat up and grumbled. She was incredibly grouchy and groggy. She could remember from her human life that she had never particularly been a morning person. With one hand she wiped at her sleepy eyes, not caring that she might be smearing her make-up. With the other, she set it down on her husband's thigh and shook.

"Emmett!" she grumbled loudly, knowing that with their vampire hearing he would be able to hear her. "Get the hell up, lazy bones… We're alive…"

He grumbled and turned over.

"Emmett!" she yelled.

Jasper sat up, instantly awake and frowned at Rosalie. Her eyes widened and she instantly snatched her hand off of her brother's leg as if it were on fire. He rubbed his face with a angry sigh.

"It's me, damn it!" he grumbled.

"I can see that, _now_," Rosalie grumbled back, embarrassed.

Jasper rolled his eyes at the embarrassment and guilt that was coming from his sister and stood from the cobbled floor with a groan. He rubbed at his lower back and glowered at the ground. His back actually _hurt_ from being on the floor for so long.

"Jasper? Rosalie?"

Rosalie was instantly on her feet and her eyes widened along with Jasper's. They both looked to where the voice had come from. Rosalie gasped and Jasper's eyebrows rose in concern. Sitting on her bottom, just a few feet away from them was a groaning Esme Cullen.

"Mom!" they both exclaimed and were by her side in a flash.

As Jasper helped her to her feet, Rosalie dusted her off and checked her for any injuries. Esme groaned some more and held her head in her hands.

"I haven't had a headache like this for decades," she groaned. "Where is everyone else?"

Jasper bit his lip in uncertainty as he watched and heard both his sister and mother whimper in sadness. Their feelings of despair and utter helplessness was heartbreaking. They held each other and reached out for him. He went willingly into their arms and allowed them to lean on him.

He knew exactly what they were thinking, for the same thoughts were actually running through his head also.

_Were they dead?_

He shook his head and willed himself to be calm, cool and collected. If not for himself, then for Rosalie and Esme. Jasper knew, deep in his heart that it was an incredibly silly question, because Alice _was _alive. He knew it in his very soul that his mate was alive. And he knew with just as much certainty that his brothers and father were alive as well.

"There now," he said softly, kissing them both on the top of their heads He pushed just a tiny bit of happiness to help them. "We must pull ourselves together. We _will _find them."

While the two female vampires took their time to get themselves together, Jasper for the first time took in his surroundings. They were in some type of town square, that was readily evident. Behind him was a fountain of sorts. Jasper could hear the gentle and calming flow of water.

The walls around the square were high and painted a soft periwinkle. What grabbed his attention were the two large doors at the other end of the square. Beside the door was a giant number.

**3**

Jasper frowned at it, wanting to know the reason for it. He slowly withdrew from the group hug and flashed over to it. Something to his left then caught his eye. There was a hazard blockade in front of a giant metal tube. A broken tube with copper and electrical wires sticking out of it.

After looking at it intensely for a few seconds, Jasper turned back to Rosalie and Esme. He was happy to see that they had calmed themselves down somewhat.

Rosalie, who had already smoothed out her clothing as much as she could, was fixing her hair. Esme helped her pull it back into a tight pony tail. By the looks of Esme, Rosalie must have helped her first.

He smiled and walked at a human pace toward them just to give them a few more human seconds. And something just next to Esme caught his eye.

Jasper froze and watched as a black little monster appeared out of nowhere. It crouched low to the ground and seemed to sniff at the ground before it set it's attention on the nearest living being.

Esme.

"Mom!" Jasper yelled and in a flash he was by her side.

Unfortunately, in that same flash, the little monster attached it's teeth to the back of Esme's calf. She cried out and fell to her knees. Both snarling, Jasper and Rosalie grabbed it by it's stubby black arms and ripped it away from their family matriarch.

They watched with satisfaction as the monster completely tore in half from their simultaneous pull in two opposite directions. The creature gave no indication of feeling pain as they destroyed it. It merely went up in black mist.

"Oh, my God," Rosalie whispered as she looked down at her mother. "It actually took a chunk out of her calf, Jasper!"

"Wow, I thought for a second you guys would be needing some help! But it looks like you guys got it covered! Cool!"

Rosalie and Jasper froze over their mother. In an instant they were in front of the injured Esme who was clutching at her calf in pain. They crouched low and drew their lips back to reveal their sharp and venomous teeth to the person who had surprised them at a vulnerable moment.

The person, a young woman who looked to be nineteen, raised her arms in the air in surrender.

"Hey!" she said in alarm. "I'm not gunna hurt you guys! I just wanta help you!"

Rosalie snarled. "We don't need any help!"

"Hey! What's going on down there?!"

A thin man with messy hair and a mustache walked down the steps that were behind the unknown young woman. In his hand he held a gun. The man was dressed in a very familiar police uniform. As soon as the man laid eyes on them he gasped. And then his eyes landed on the hurt Esme Cullen.

"Holy shit!" he cursed. "Esme! Are you alright!"

Both Jasper and Rosalie stared wide eyed at the man who stood before them in his Forks officer uniform.

"Chief Swan!" they both gasped.

Esme looked up at Charlie Swan, who lowered his gun and sheathed it quickly. Charlie ran forward and knelt by her side, taking a look at her wound. He looked at her face and then he turned to look at Jasper and Rosalie.

"How are you three even here?" he asked in bewilderment. "How are you even alive? You three have to be some of the first people I've seen from Earth!"

Jasper tried to ignore the puzzled emotions he was getting from Charlie and raised an eyebrow at the man.

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious and puzzled simultaneously. "The first people you've seen from Earth?"

Charlie shook his head. "Never mind that. Later."

Rosalie and Jasper watched as he picked Esme up, bridal style. The young woman, who was still standing at the foot of the steps Charlie had come down, motioned for all of them to follow her.

"Come on!" she said, "we have to get her wound healed as soon as possible. They really get nasty if you just leave them… but really, what wound doesn't, right?"

Charlie looked at Esme's calf again and grimaced. "Come on guys! Follow us! Your mom's bite doesn't look so good, I mean, it's not even bleeding! It's just a gaping wound! That's gotta be a bad sign, right?"

Rosalie and Jasper exchanged hard looks before they followed after Charlie and the girl. They had no choice. They trusted Charlie with their mother's well being, but he just didn't _know_.

He didn't know what they were.

He didn't know that the reason for Esme's bloodless wound was because she was already dead.

Revealing their identity was a family decision. How were they supposed to make that decision when half of their family was missing?

~*~

"Wake up!"

Edward Cullen frowned in his sleep and spooned against a hard, cold something. He could hear his sister Alice calling out to someone. If she was calling to him or someone else, he hardly cared…. A hot breath was suddenly sighed into his neck.

"My Rosie…"

His eyes suddenly sprang open and he hissed at the person who had their arms tightly encased themselves around his body. The arms wrapped even tighter around him and Edward hissed like a feral cat as he pushed his brother away from his.

"Get off of me, Emmett!" Edward growled. "I'm not _your Rosie_!"

"What?" Emmett asked groggily. "Rosie…?"

Edward stood from the ground and dusted himself off. He stepped over Emmett who was just sitting up, still half asleep and walked over to where Alice was standing. She was staring up at a peculiar looking score board.

Once at her side, he looked about the place. They were in some kind of square it seemed. The floor was a pale stone and there were two golden Greek statues a few dozen feet away from them. They towered over the square, and over them.

He gasped suddenly as he looked around. Emmett was being helped up to his feet by their father, Carlisle. Where was everyone else? Where was Jasper, Rosalie and his mother, Esme?

Where was _Bella_?

"Don't panic, Edward," Alice chirped happily, her hands clapped behind her back as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "They're perfectly fine!"

He watched as his sister tapped the side of her head before she turned back to reading the massive blue scoreboard. With just a little mental probe he was able to see his two other siblings and his mother wake up in the middle of another square. It looked different than the one he was currently standing in.

Alice's vision only got as far as when they embraced in front of a charming looking water fountain.

"What about…?" he whispered, hoping for some good news.

Alice grinned and tapped her head with her manicured finger. An image formed in her mind and he saw his Bella sleeping in what looked to be a motel bed. Edward grinned also and he sighed in relief.

"Where _the fuck _are we?" they both heard Emmett cry out.

They both turned and watched as their father cuffed Emmett upside the head. Their brother grinned sheepishly at Carlisle and apologized.

"But really," Emmett continued. "_Where are we?_"

"You gotta be kiddin' me!"

They all turned and watched as a small… _thing _sauntered over to them. It's lower body seemed to be that of a red haired goat and the top of it's body resembled a small, but large bellied man. It sauntered right over to Emmett and looked up at him incredulously.

"Are you tellin' me that you ain't go no idea where you're at?!" it asked him, it's voice raising.

Emmett, who looked toward his father before looking down at the half-man, half-goat, shook his head.

"No," Emmett answered honestly. "I really don't. _We _really don't."

Carlisle whispered to himself in awe in amazement. "He's a satyr… Great Gatsby."

The satyr spread his arms wide and gestured toward a large pair of green doors. They were just under where the two gold Greek statues stood.

"This here is the world famous Coliseum!" he announced grandly. "This is where we have the world famous games!"

"What kind of games?" Alice asked curiously.

"Battling games, of course," the satyr said instantly with a smirk. "We stick ya in the coliseum with a monster and let ya battle it out for the public's joy, baby. The names Philoctetes. _You _baby, can call me Phil."

Alice beamed, seemingly having no idea that Phil was flirting, while Edward and Carlisle frowned openly at the red haired satyr. Emmett bounced on the balls of his feet and clapped his hands together like a child. He joyfully looked down at Phil, the satyr and grinned.

"Count me in!" he boomed. "Where the hell do I sign up?!"

Phil frowned before he turned his back on them to saunter over to the green doors. They all had a feeling that those doors were probably the entrance to the Coliseum. Phil stopped at the doors before turning to point a finger at Emmett.

"I don't think so, kid!" Phil said disapprovingly. "The games are strictly HEROES ONLY!"

Phil pointed his finger at Edward, Alice and Carlisle. "You three, HELL NO! You three look as if a good gust would knock ya over…. And you!"

The satyr's finger was now on Emmett. "I gotta admit, kid, youse got the look of hero. But there is no doubt about it. You're too much of a … a kid on Ritalin. Call me when ya get yourself off of the short bus. I'll think about trainin' ya then."

Phil the satyr closed the door with a loud bang behind him before the three Cullen siblings and the Cullen patriarch turned to each other. They stood close to each other now and looked to each other in bafflement.

"There is no doubt about it," Carlisle said, softly. "We are most definitely in another world."

Edward and Alice nodded. Emmett still had his eyes on the green doors that Phil had disappeared behind.

"We need to find a way to get to wherever the others are," Edward said with his chin held high, waiting for someone to tell him otherwise.

Fortunately they were all on the same page.

Alice nodded again. "We already know from my vision that all of them are fine. Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Bella. Well, except for Charlie, but I'm sure that he is. Fine, I mean. I think we should get a good grip of our surrounding first."

"I agree with you, Alice," said Carlisle, looking at his daughter approvingly. "We should all split up in twos and begin to collect as much data as we can about this world. And ask around to see if we would be able to leave this world for another."

Emmett finally turned to them and gave them a puzzled look. He turned to Edward, who looked at him curiously. Emmett's thoughts were suddenly loud and clear to him.

'_Dude_,' Emmett thought to himself. '_Did that goat just call me a retard?_'

Edward shook his head. His lips twitched.

"I call dibs on Alice," Edward said dryly to his father.

~*~

"Rise and shine… Well, not really. Considering that you did sleep through the whole day. I don't blame you though, after what you've been through."

Bella sat up in the Inn bed and rubbed at her eyes sleepily. She looked toward Aerith, who was sitting at the small room table with another young woman. This new young woman smiled brightly at her and waved.

On the table was dinner and Bella's stomach growled loudly. Bella felt her cheeks flush and smiled, embarrassed.

"Come, Bella," Aerith said softly. "We have a seat waiting for you."

As soon as she sat at the table, her hand was being shaken by the unknown young woman.

"It's really nice to meet you, Bella," the young woman said brightly. "I am the great ninja, Yuffie!"

Bella smiled hesitantly and shook Yuffie's hand. As she began to serve herself some food, Bella couldn't help but pay attention to what the two women were saying to each other.

"He woke up just outside of Traverse Town," Yuffie was explaining to Aerith. "He was on the gummi docks. It's a good thing we found him before the Heartless did…"

"Where's Leon, anyhow?" Aerith asked suddenly, he eyes quickly glancing at the door that connected to the next room. "Is he still asleep?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes and adjusted the suspenders of her shorts. "Please. _Squall_ went to go see Merlin after Sora met and left with Donald and Goofy."

Bella perked up at the familiar names.

"Donald and Goofy left?" she asked, surprised and a little disappointed. "When?"

"Last night," both Aerith and Yuffie answered.

Bella deflated. "Who's Sora, anyway? And Leon, Merlin?… and Squall?"

"Oh, that's right," said Aerith, who smiled softly. "I forgot that you didn't meet them. We all met Sora last night while you were asleep. He left with Donald and Goofy to go on an… important journey."

Bella nodded, though not really understanding. "Oh."

Yuffie giggled behind her hand. "Leon and Squall are actually the same person."

"Really?" Bella asked, curious and confused. "Err, why does he have two names then?"

Aerith sighed sadly while Yuffie just frowned.

"It's not really our story to tell, Bella," Aerith said softly. "All I can say is that when our world was destroyed, so was Leon's spirit… Merlin is actually a really good friend of ours from our home planet."

Standing from the table and her empty plate, Yuffie stood. She smiled at both Aerith and Bella before moving towards the door.

"I should get going," she said quietly, but with a smile. "I left the Earthling Charlie all alone at the safe house--"

Bella stood from her seat, completely knocking it over. She had startled Aerith and Yuffie who looked at her in alarm.

"Ch-Charlie?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears. "Do you mean, Charlie Swan?"

In an instant, Bella was over to her bed and was pulling off the pajamas that Aerith had lent her. She began to pull on her old clothes. Aerith had been nice enough to take her old clothes and wash them for her. After a few long minutes of getting dressed Bella begged Yuffie to take her to wherever Charlie was. And Yuffie quickly obliged.

"He's asked about seeing a girl around that might be his daughter," Yuffie said as she led Bella and Aerith out of the Inn and into the 2nd District. "He didn't give us a name or description though."

"Where is he anyway?" Bella asked, holding back her excitement as Yuffie then led them to a door that had a number 3 on it.

"He's at the safe house, Bella," Yuffie answered with a smile. "That's in the 3rd District."

As they entered the 3rd District, Bella was not all that surprised. It seemed that every district of Traverse Town had a square. She couldn't exactly see it from where they were standing, but Bella could still see the periwinkle glow from the lamps.

A wail of pain cut through the air. A woman's wail. Yuffie grabbed Bella by the elbow and pushed her gently toward a house.

"Get inside the safe house, Bella," said Yuffie with concerned frown.

"Come on, Bella," Aerith said urgently, pulling the much younger girl by the arm.

Aerith opened the door and pulled Bella into the house. She closed it behind her, before going over to a window and opening a curtain to peer out.

"Yuffie?" a familiar man's voice said from behind Bella. "I was wondering when you wou-- Bella!"

Turning in place, Bella launched herself into the arms of the man behind her. He was still wearing his police uniform and he clutched her tightly to his chest.

"I-I thought I would never see you again, Bells," Charlie whispered into her hair before he kissed on both of her cheeks.

Breathing in his familiar scent, Bella finally let go of the tears. She allowed herself to sob openly into her father's chest. They were tears of relief.

Oh, how Bella wished that were true. She was feeling guilty now. She knew she should have been crying over finally finding her father, but she wasn't.

As Charlie slowly relinquished his grip on her, Bella looked up into his tear streaked face. And she felt even more guilty. Here her father was, appropriately crying over finding his daughter….

While Bella was crying over… _him_.

Edward.

Another tear escaped and Charlie lovingly caressed it away from his daughter's cheek. He kissed her on the forehead and grinned down at her.

"I-uh, I think something bad is going to happen," Aerith suddenly said from her post at the window, drawing their attention to her. "Yuffie is taking too long to investigate…"

Charlie and Bella shared a look.

"Where is Yuffie?" Charlie asked.

"We heard someone scream, dad," Bella explained, hiccupping. "And Yuffie went to go see what was happening."

"I would have gone," Aerith began to explain. "But I'm no fighter. I'm just a healer."

Charlie unsheathed his gun and began to walk toward the door. Bella made to follow, but Charlie pushed her away toward Aerith's direction.

"No," he said sternly. "I'm going to go check it out. I want you to stay with this woman… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, ma'am."

"It's Aerith. My name is Aerith."

Charlie nodded his head toward Bella. "Stay with Aerith, Bella."

Bella stomped her foot angrily. "Dad, you know I can take care of myself! You saw so right before we got sucked into that black thing --"

"Isabella!"

Bella stepped back, startled by her father's yelling voice. Never had she heard her father use that tone of voice with her or use her full name.

"I said to stay here, do you hear me, Isabella?" he asked her, his voice loud and deadly serious. "We'll talk about that incident when I get back."

Charlie slammed the door behind him. Bella hurried to the window and squeezed in beside Aerith. Charlie's voice carried through the window as he hurried down the stair to enter into the 3rd District Square. Unfortunately it was too muffled for her to make out.

Aerith and Bella stood together, arm to arm, silent at the window. They watched and waited on baited breath. Seconds passed by that felt like an eternity to Bella. She felt as if she wanted to storm out of this safe house and throw herself into the mux of what was happening in the 3rd District square.

'_This is how it must be to be an immortal vampire_,' Bella thought to herself wryly. '_No wonder Edward was always so broody…'_

Aerith suddenly gasped and Bella let out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding. Her father came walking up the steps, talking two at a time.

He had a woman in his arms.

Bella turned to go to the door, but Aerith was already there.

"Oh, my!" Aerith breathed. "Put her over there on the sofa, Charlie! I must attend to her immediately."

As her father walked into the safe house with the woman in his arms, three other people followed in after him. She and others gasped loudly.

"Bella," Jasper gasped loudly.

Rosalie's eyes were merely widened at the sight of her. Esme made a sobbing sound as she caught a glimpse of her.

"Oh, my God," Bella breath out. "You're alive!"

* * *

**A/N: Reviews and feedback would be great. Also, let me warn you guys that there will be spoiler alerts in this fic. 'Birth By Sleep' is supposedly coming out later this year in the US, but it's already out in Japan and I plan to include SOME of those spoilers in this fic.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts. Only the disembodied voice and it's character, I own. Tee hee.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

* * *

"There's no time for reunions kids," Charlie said sternly as he watched Aerith kneel down to take a look at Esme's calf wound. "We need to get their mother fixed up in a jiffy before we do anything else."

Yuffie disappeared further into the safe house, but she appeared out of a hallway, toting a large brown leather bag. She handed it to Aerith, who began to sift through it. While Aerith looked through her bag, Bella, Rosalie and Jasper still held eye contact.

Jasper took a small step forward, his face crumbling as if he were in pain. Rosalie on the other hand showed no emotion whatsoever. She merely let her eyes run over Bella's body as if she were looking for any injuries.

And then, not for the first time, Rosalie shocked Bella with her words.

"Bella," Rosalie said blandly, as if she had just bumped into the human at a shopping mall. "How nice to see… you are well."

Bella gaped. This had to be the first time the blond haired vampire had ever said something to her that was not … well, rude. She snapped her mouth shut and watched as Rosalie then moved away from them to kneel down beside Aerith and Esme. She grabbed a hold of Esme's hand and squeezed it to relay some kind of assurance of comfort.

"Bella," Jasper breathed heavily and with a sorrowful whimper. "Bella, I-I'm _so_ --"

"No," Bella said sternly as tears began to fill her eyes. "Don't you dare say you're sorry, Jasper."

Jasper bowed his head and sucked in an unneeded breath. Shame. It filled his body. If he were a human, he would be bawling his head off. He would be crawling on his knees and clutching at Bella's ankles for her to forgive him. Forgive him for trying to make her into a vampire version of a happy meal.

_But she won't_, his conscious whispered to him. _Because you're a monster, Jasper._

Two small hands were suddenly on either side of his face and he froze stiffly. He allowed them to bring his face up.

Sisterly Affection. Acceptance.

Forgiveness.

They radiated off of Bella as she held Jasper's face in her tiny hands. A quiet sob tore itself out of his mouth. Jasper allowed Bella to pull him into her arms and he laid his head onto her shoulder, his arms hanging lifeless at his sides.

"There is nothing to forgive, Jasper," Bella whispered quietly.

As if sensing that Jasper was about to object, Bella grumbled in his ear.

"Will you just shut the _hell _up," she grumbled. "I don't want to hear any kind of excuse or reasoning that you think will change my decision. You acted out instinctively. I nor anyone else can blame you for something that is considered instinct."

He sighed, a smile slowly appearing on his face. Jasper raised his head and grinned at her. Bella gave him a satisfied smile before tip-toeing to kiss his cool cheek.

"Thank you, Bella," he whispered softly. "Y-you don't know how much your forgiveness means to me…"

Jasper grinned as Bella rolled her eyes up at him. With two fingers she poked him in the ribs softly. He felt it, though it felt barely like a brush of a feather.

"I just told you," Bella said, trying to sound jokingly annoyed. "There's nothing to forgive, Jasper."

She poked him again. "On the other hand…."

Jasper's grin fell as he watched her joking expression turn to anger. "… Leaving me without even saying a proper goodbye. _That _will take me a while to forgive you for."

He opened his mouth to give her an apology, but Bella took one of her hands and covered his mouth. Jasper's apology came out muffled and he sighed again.

And then he blinked.

Jasper breathed in the scent of her from her hand and he blinked again.

It was gone. The blood lust he had felt before, from the scent of her blood, was gone. Of course, the last time she had cut herself on wrapping paper. But, it still astonished him. Her scent no longer held any thrall for him. Jasper looked down at Bella in awe.

Bella took her hand away from his mouth and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's going to take me a while, Jazz," Bella said with a growing smile. "But I think I'll forgive you eventually."

Her smile widened into a grin. "I fully expect you to grovel… Are you alright?"

Jasper nodded and returned her smile. "I'm fine… more than fine really."

"It's not working."

Both Jasper and Bella turned to Aerith who sighed in obvious frustration. They both watched as Aerith dragged Yuffie to a corner of the room and whispered into her ear as quickly as she could. Bella and Charlie had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

But Esme, Jasper and Rosalie on the other hand, could. With their super sensitive hearing they heard what Aerith was saying to Yuffie as if the young woman had been speaking loudly to them all.

"It's not working, Yuffie," Aerith said sadly.

Yuffie looked confused. "What do you mean? Cura?"

The woman in the pink dress nodded. "I tried that one first and then I tried Curaga. It looked as if it were working for a moment, but then it just stopped. It's not _working_, Yuffie. I'm not powerful enough."

Biting her lower lip, Yuffie thought for a moment. And then she brightened up quickly with a squeal.

"I know!" Yuffie whispered, nodding with enthusiasm. "Why don't I go get Merlin and Squ-- eh, Leon?"

Aerith nodded too, her smile appearing on her face. "That's a wonderful idea, Yuffie! Yes, go get Merlin and Leon… I really don't know what Leon would be able to do in this kind of situation, but Merlin would most certainly be helpful to us."

Yuffie sprinted toward the door and slammed it behind her with a startling bang. Everyone watched as Aerith made her way over to Esme and sat beside her.

"Don't you worry, ma'am," Aerith said in her usual soft voice. "Everything is going to be fine. Tell me, are you in any pain?"

Esme sucked on her bottom lip and nodded.

"Yes," he voice wobbled. "W-what was that thing? That thing that bit me…"

"That was a Heartless," Aerith answered.

Charlie's look darkened and Bella sighed.

"They're the reason why _we're _hear," he said angrily, glancing toward Bella, who nodded. "It was like those little creeps lured us into position and then sucked me and Bella into a gooey black hole."

Bella hesitated before she spoke. "W-when… _He_ left me in the woods, one attacked me."

They all turned to stare at her. Two stares were confused, while three looked suspicious. Jasper rubbed his chin and grimaced slightly at the waves of deep sadness and heartbreak that were coming off of Bella.

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked, though he had a sick feeling that he already knew the answers to all his questions. "Who's _he_?"

Shaking her head, Bella mirrored his grimace. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, it attacked me and I managed to runaway before it seriously hurt me."

Charlie went slowly to his daughter and clutched her tightly to his side. Bella closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist.

"Edward?"

Bella flinched at _his _name being said aloud. Jasper took a step toward her. Giving a hiss of warning Rosalie stood and grabbed at his arm.

_Be brave, Isabella…_

Opening her eyes, Bella looked toward Jasper.

"Is _he _Edward?" Jasper asked with a frown.

Rosalie hissed again. "Enough. Now is obviously not the time for this. Later."

Frowning as well, Charlie nodded at Rosalie. Jasper glanced between them all, before nodding his head. The empathic vampire turned and took a seat on the floor in front of his mother. He took her hand.

"All in due time, sweetheart," Esme said so low that no human ear would have never been able to hear it. "We will have your answers in due time."

~*~

Walking into the courtyard entrance of the Coliseum, Edward sat his bottom under a golden statue. Following after him was his sister, Alice. She trailed behind with a sad look upon her face.

"Did you see everyone's clothes?" she whined softly. "They look like Esme's draperies."

Edward rolled his eyes. He sighed as Alice complained on and on about the non-existence of fashion in the world that they were currently in. She had looked as if she were about to cry when she saw that shopping malls were non-existent as well.

"Hey!"

Edward blinked up at Alice who frowned angrily at him.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Edward nodded and then turned away as she went back into her mindless babble. His brows suddenly crinkled as a thought came from Alice. His features softened at the image of Bella from his sister's mind.

Bella had her back to Alice, but when she suddenly turned her brown hair fell around the head of a donkey. Springing to his feet, Edward growled at his sister.

"That's not fucking funny, Alice!" he growled under his breath knowing full well that his sister could hear him.

Alice nodded. "I'm sorry. I was just kind of mad that you weren't listening… I miss Jasper, Edward."

Shaking his head and his anger away, Edward grinned at his sister. "It's only been about half a day, Alice. Besides, when you and Rose would go hunting you would be gone for days."

Sighing, Alice sat at Edward's feet.

"I know," Alice said quietly. "But on those times Jasper and I were on the same _planet_. Can you honestly say that you don't miss Bella, Edward?"

Sitting back down, Edward refused to answer. Alice grinned. Of course Edward missed Bella. It was a stupid question that Alice couldn't help but ask. Her grin slipped back down to a smile, but then it sprung back to life with vigor at the sight of Carlisle and Emmett coming through to the courtyard.

Carlisle smiled also when he spotted them. Emmett look positively bored. Jumping on the balls of her feet, Alice skipped forward in a way that would have made any ballerina jealous. Their father took Alice in his arms and gave a soft kiss to her brow.

"This place is a fu- err, I mean-- a _friggin' _bore," Emmett said with a sideways glance at Carlisle.

Alice was nodding in agreement. "For the first time in my un-life, I have to say that I am with Emmett on this one."

"Hey, thanks!"

"Don't mention… Really, _don't_."

"Awww man, Rosie would have gotten a kick out it."

"Jazz would have thought the apocalypse was upon us."

"Look around you, little sister," Emmett said with utmost amusement. "I think it already _is_."

Edward rolled his eyes and didn't waste time getting down to business. "There's a small marketplace a few miles away. There was nothing there. Just a bunch of old men selling potteries and rugs. All in all, we found absolutely nothing that would be able to get us off of this world."

"We went down the other path, as you know," Carlisle said to his son. "What we found surprised us immensely. It was a sort of gate way to the underworld, if you can believe that."

Eyes widening, Edward's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry, Father. But can you repeat that again?"

Alice sighed in exasperation. "Didn't you hear him the first time, Edward? Carlisle said that they found a portal down to the -- Wait, what?!"

They both looked at their father incredulously. It had to be impossible! There was no way that Carlisle and Emmett had found some kind of way to … Well, _hell_. Emmett grinned widely and in a flash his beefy hands were wrapped around both of Alice and Edward's wrists.

"What are you doing, you big oaf!"

Emmett's grin looked as if it could become even more brighter and he chuckled as he dragged a reluctant Alice and defiant Edward to the doors that lead out of the coliseum square.

"Now, now, Emo-ward," he crooned. "That's not a nice word to use. Besides, Rosalie has already used it on me… I'm gunna give you both some proof."

Eyes brightening with curiosity, Alice still looked wary.

"Are we going to be safe going down there?" she asked, peering over her shoulder to look back at their coven patriarch, who was following right behind them with a fatherly smile. "This _is _Tetarus we're talking about…"

Nodding reassuringly at his youngest daughter, Carlisle took her wrist out of Emmett's and held her hand in his own. "I assure you, Alice, everything will be fine. Emmett and I were not affected by it in the least. I actually don't believe that we were exactly in Tetarus. More like at the gates of it."

Edward pulled his wrist out of Emmett's grasp as the bigger vampire pushed open the doors. There were two different stairs. One was the way that Alice and Edward had taken. It had lead them down to a normal, human inhabited land. They were now being lead down the path that Emmet and their father had taken.

As they climbed lower and lower, the light was diminishing. There was an eerie glow of purple and green that was beginning to come off of their surroundings. The once Greek marbled walls and stairs were turning into a dark dirt colored stone with the same purple and green glow.

When they finally reached the end of the stairs they were silent. It looked as if they had descended into a cave. Stalactites the size of elephants and as long as three story buildings loomed over them.

Alice let go of Carlisle's hand and walked a few steps forward. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sights around her.

"This place…," she whispered. "Is foreboding."

The other three nodded and followed her as she walked to a strange body of water. There was a small row boat that was secured to a stalagmite floating at the water's edge. Alice gasped, taking in the colossal building way beyond the body of water.

"What is that?" Alice asked in fearful curiosity.

Carlisle shook his head, unable to take his eyes off of it. "I have no idea."

"We didn't even go this far into it," Emmett said, his eyes narrowing. "We mostly stayed away from the water. I think we can all agree that it looks demonic, in a way."

Edward took Alice by the arm and dragged her away from the water's edge.

"Noticed it did you?"

They all tensed and turned at the voice behind them. Edward crouched in front of his sister and Emmett growled menacingly.

The stranger was leaning against a stalagmite. His clothes were dark and his hair was blonde. His features were pale and there seemed to be something big strapped to his back, under his cloak.

"That is the underworld's Coliseum," said the stranger with a scowl. "It was made by Hades himself. It's to satiate the violence and blood lust of the… _inmates_."

They appraised him for a few seconds before Carlisle took the polite step forward.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen," their father said.

He had positioned Alice behind him and had taken a place on the other side of the Edward. Unlike Edward and Emmett, he had stayed in his standing position. Though he did not make any moves to approach the stranger or greet him with a hand shake

"These are my children," Carlisle went on. "Edward, Emmett and Alice. I must say, you are the first human that we have come into physical contact with on this world."

The stranger's face was blank. But he nodded at them in turn.

"I am one of the few humans on this world that is from another," the stranger said to them. He glanced at the Cullen's clothing quickly, but then turned his eyes away from them. "I gather from the way you're dressed that you not from these parts, either?"

Carlisle nodded. "You are correct. We are from a world called Earth."

"Our world was attacked by these black monsters," Alice said from behind the three male vampires.

The stranger nodded again. "The Heartless is what they are called. They also attacked my own world, called Hollow Bastion. Only a handful of us survived. They relocated to a world called Traverse Town for the time being. Little by little we are getting rid of the Heartless vermin that still inhabit our world."

Edward stood out of his crouch and hardened his features.

"How exactly did you get to this world then?" Edward asked, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion.

The stranger finally gave eye contact. His eyes were dark and they showed hardness that any of them had only seen come from Jasper. This stranger had soldier eyes.

"I came by Gummi Ship," the stranger answered. "It is a vessel that was created on my world that can safely transport any being from one world to another. I'm just here for work."

The four members of the Cullen family exchanged smiles and grins. They finally knew that they would be able to get off of this world and go to other worlds. They needed to find their four other missing family members and Charlie Swan.

"I apologize for being forward before hand," Carlisle said slowly. "But I would like to ask if you could take us off of this world. If that is alright with you, that is."

The stranger made eye contact with them again. He looked at them all in turn, his eyes narrowing. And then they widened.

"When was the last time you fed?"

The four Cullens froze. What exactly did he mean? Did he mean in the human way? Or did he mean it in the vampire way?

Alice suddenly gasped and they all turned to look at her. Her eyes glazed and she nearly fell over, but Carlisle held her to his side in concern. When her eyes focused they landed on the stranger.

She smiled and clasped her hands in front of her.

"You've met a vampire before, haven't you?" she asked with a laugh.

The three other Cullen turned to look at the stranger. He nodded, one part of his lip turning up. A smirk was slowly showing on his face.

"Yeah, we were…" the stranger pursed his lips. "I suppose you could have called us acquaintances. His name was Vincent Valentine. I haven't seen him since before the Heartless attacked my world… now answer my question."

"Yesterday," Alice chipped in excitement.

Carlisle, Edward and Emmett nodded in agreement. They had fed before they had left Forks in anticipation of the long journey they would have taken to distance themselves from Bella. The stranger stood up properly and ran a hand through his blonde and slightly spiky hair.

"I suppose I could take you to Traverse Town," the stranger sighed. "that's where I'm going after I do my job. So you vamps are going to have to wait for a couple of days. Maybe only two. Got it?"

"Yes, of course," Carlisle smiled in thanks, looking relieved. "Thank you very much ….?"

The stranger began to walk toward the stairs that would lead them to the Coliseum and they followed after him.

"Cloud Strife. The name is Cloud Strife."

"Thank you again, Cloud."

~*~

She grimaced at her face in the mirror. The dark shadows that were under her eyes implied exhaustion. Which would be right. The events that had taken place in the short amount of time had absolutely exhausted her. Body and mind.

After flushing the toilet and washing her hands, Bella turned the light off in the bathroom and closed the door. She walked down a short hallway to the living room where everyone was gathered.

She stood between Jasper and Charlie, and watched as the man named Merlin kneeled next to Aerith and Esme. He was exactly what his name implied. The old man was dressed in what she supposed was a wizard's clothing and boots. He had taken his pointed wizard's hat off and hung it on a peg beside the door. The man called Leon leaned against the wall beside the door. He wore a frown on his scarred face.

Bella felt the presence of Rosalie behind her. Jasper had inched so close to her that their side were touching.

"This old bastard better be for real," Rosalie hissed quietly, behind Jasper, Bella and Charlie. "Magic, my pale ass."

Bella giggled at Rosalie's words. Charlie nodded at Rosalie with a frown. His eyes watched Leon warily. Jasper said nothing. Like Charlie he was wary of the man called Leon. His eyes would glance between the man and his mother. They would switch from caring to diamond hard suspicion like the switch of a light.

Jasper could feel the emotions of concern coming off of Rosalie, Bella and Charlie. And also from Yuffie, Aerith and the old man named Merlin. The concern was for Esme. And then there was the immense dislike. And it was coming from Leon. Dislike was radiating off of the man. And it was only aimed at the three vampires in the room.

Coincidence? Jasper didn't think so.

They all finally gave their attention to Aerith, Merlin and Esme. Aerith and Merlin placed one hand near where her wound was. Instantly, a green glow was being emitted from their hands to Esme. It spread over Esme's body and their eyes widened.

Their huddled little group all gasped as they watched the wound begin to heal itself.

"This is really tingly," Esme squeaked.

Everyone watched, including Leon, as Esme's wound knitted together perfectly and at a rapid pace. As soon as it completely closed, Aerith and Merlin took their glowing hands away from the healed Esme.

Esme sat up and caressed her healed calf. She hissed and held her leg tenderly.

"The soreness is to be expected, my dear," Merlin said with a jovial smile. "The symptoms are all the same whether you be human, or vampire, like yourself."

Jasper, Rosalie and Esme froze. Bella gasped in horror, while Charlie blinked in disbelief and confusion. In a vampire flash Jasper and Rosalie were standing protectively in front of their mother. They growling in warning at the other humans. Rosalie suddenly looked dangerously toward Bella.

And Bella knew exactly what the blond vampire must have been thinking.

"No!" Bella said vehemently, answering the blonde's silent question. "I didn't! I swear!"

Jasper glared and hissed at Rosalie. "She didn't! Bella would never tell our secret to anyone!"

Charlie turned to look at his daughter with wide, angry eyes.

"You knew?" he asked in disbelief. "You knew what they were and you didn't tell me?!"

"It wasn't my secret to tell, Dad!" Bella exclaimed.

Leon pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against. He unsheathed the weapon that had been strapped to his side and pointed it at the three Cullens. Without a second's thought, Charlie unsheathed his own gun and stood by the Cullen's side.

"I would put that away, if I were you," Leon said with calm anger. "You might hurt yourself."

Rosalie and Jasper hissed, while Esme only looked on with widened eyes. She was still holding her calf with tender care. Charlie sneered at Leon and chuckled darkly.

"Funny," said Charlie. "I was going to say the exact same thing to you, _kid_."

Leon glared now. "Don't make me hurt you… _Old man_. And Believe me, I won't hesitate to cut you down like I will to these leeches."

Rage. It was filling her cup to the brim and overflowing. Bella stepped forward with determination to stand in front of the Cullens and her father. She felt the familiar feeling, just like the day before when she had cut down the heartless before they could further hurt her father.

_Don't be afraid, Isabella… Show them you mean business…_

With her right hand she grasped at an invisible something. With shining sparks her blade appeared out of thin air. Bella ignored the three gasps from behind her, along with the gasps that had come from Merlin, Aerith and Yuffie.

She pointed her weapon at Leon calmly, who eyed the blade in her hand in disbelief. And infuriated anger.

"Say that again, asshole, and then we'll see who exactly gets cut the _fuck_ down."

There was no way Bella was going to let this man hurt her family. No matter what.

_TBC_

* * *

**A/N/: Sorry about the TBC. The chapter was just WAY too long and I needed it to be cut in half somewhere. And don't worry, the voice will be explained in the next chapter. Reviews and feedback would be great. Tell me how I'm doing, folks. -- JMMendiola**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_With her right hand she grasped at an invisible something. With shining sparks, her blade appeared out of thin air. Bella ignored the three gasps from behind her, along with the gasps that had come from Merlin, Aerith and Yuffie._

_She pointed her weapon at Leon calmly, who eyed the blade in her hand in disbelief. And infuriated anger._

_"__Say that again, asshole, and then we'll see who exactly gets cut the fuck down."_

_There was no way Bella was going to let this man hurt her family. No matter what._

~*~

Merlin walked to stand between them all, his hands in the air as if to stop the chaos that was about to happen. He looked hesitantly at Leon and Bella's swords before he cleared his throat.

"Come now," said Merlin with exasperation. "We are all on the same side, yes? There is no need for us to resort to violence over this."

Leon barred his teeth in an angry shout. "Get out of the way, old man!"

His face turning an ugly shade of red, Merlin glared suddenly and uncharacteristically. His lips thinned and turned white with silent fury as he stared Leon down.

"I said to stand down!" Merlin yelled to Leon, while Yuffie and Aerith flinched. "This is ridiculous! We are all on the same side! We are all united in our front to regain our worlds and destroy the Heartless!"

The wise, old wizard look frustrated as he ran a hand through his long, knee length beard before looking at them all with an unbelieving gaze. Bella did not miss the look he gave to her weirdly shaped weapon.

"How can we ever eradicate the Heartless from our worlds when we harbor what the Heartless feed on to exist?" he asked them all.

Merlin's voice had come down to a whisper. But it was loud enough in the silence of the safe house for them all to hear his words loud and clear.

"Hate," Merlin said loudly, coming back from his whisper. "The Heartless were all created by the hate in our hearts and souls… Yes, before any of you object, I can most certainly guarantee that vampires do in fact have hearts and souls."

There was once again silence. Everyone was still as they listened and let the wizard's words wash over them. The three vampires in the room perked up at Merlin's last sentence noticeably. Bella's newly acquired weapon was suddenly forgotten.

Rosalie rose from her defensive position and looked hopeful.

"How do you know?" she asked softly, her face neutral.

Opening his mouth slowly to answer Rosalie's question, Merlin was abruptly interrupted by an angry exclamation from Leon. He glared at the wizard and shook his head.

A dainty hand rested on Leon's shoulder from behind. Aerith stepped forward and stood beside Leon. She gave him a teary, slight smile. The scarred man looked down at the healer, who still had her hand on his shoulder. Slowly, Leon lowered his sword before he pushed Aerith away and rushed out the door.

They were silent once again as they all stared at the open door of the safe house. Yuffie stepped forward with a sad frown and she closed the door gently. But it was opened and closed again when Aerith rushed out the door to follow after Leon.

Charlie had sheathed his gun as soon as Leon was out of sight. Jasper had discontinued his defensive stance in front of Esme, while Esme sighed in relief and sank back into the couch. Bella lowered her arm that held her sword. She looked down at it briefly, before it disappeared in a flash of soft light and sparks.

Jasper looked sideways at Bella, shaking his head in disbelief. Rosalie ignored them all and still had her attention on Merlin

"How do you know?" Rosalie asked once more with a little bit more force.

Merlin shook his head. He walked slowly to the door, picked up a large medicine bag and then stuffed the pointed wizard's hat onto his head.

"Bye, Merlin," Yuffie said softly, still with a sad frown on her face. "See ya later. Kay?"

The old wizard looked upon the young woman and found it in himself to smile at her softly. He patted her head and nodded, before he too walked out the door. Yuffie locked it and then turned to face the three Cullens and the two Swans. She sat down on a chair and sighed.

Jasper took a seat on one side of Esme and Charlie took the other.

"Well," Yuffie breathed out with a forced chuckle, her frown still in place. "That was certainly interesting."

Rosalie was suddenly in front of Yuffie in a flash, startling the young woman.

"You, girl," said Rosalie to Yuffie harshly. "How does the wizard think that vamp- _we _have souls?"

"T-they do," Yuffie stammered, taken aback by Rosalie's up front personality and unnatural vampiric beauty in that instant. "I-I saw myself..!"

"How?" Rosalie demanded with a stomp of a designer booted foot. "Tell me now, girl."

Yuffie's lower lip trembled. Jasper's eyebrows rose as he felt the sense of sorrow radiate off of the younger girl.

Jasper sighed. "Rose, leave the poor girl alone. This is a touchy subject."

Rosalie ignored her brother and smiled with satisfaction when the short haired girl nodded her head in in assurance at Jasper. Yuffie sucked in a breath to calm herself. Jasper couldn't help but send his own little push of calmness to her. Yuffie sniffed and looked up at Rosalie.

"Well," the girl began. "When the Heartless began to attack our world with a vengeance, we had a friend named Vincent Valentine. He was the closests thing to a vampire that we had on our world, but really he wasn't very dissimilar to yourselves…

"We were on our way to the Gummi ships to get off of our world," Yuffie said sniffed loudly and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands. "The Heartless were attacking us left and right and everyone from our planet were dropping like flies… And he-he…"

She dropped her head down until her chin met her chest.

"He sacrificed himself so that all of you could get away, didn't he?" Esme asked softly, from the couch.

Yuffie nodded, sniffing for the third time. "We were unable to do anything, but watch as those little monsters sucked the soul out of him… H-have any of you ever seen how a Heartless kills a person?"

They all shook their heads. Yuffie picked her head up and nodded firmly.

"Pray you don't," she said softly. "It's the most horrible thing to watch. They feed on your soul, you know… The heart of you. And once they take it from you, you're gone for good. Your physical body disappears and in it's place is another Heartless hungry for more."

Jasper could feel the horror and fright that was coming from Yuffie and he clenched his teeth to keep it from overcoming him. And not just the girl's either, but Charlie's, Rosalie's, Esme's, Bella's and even his own.

Esme stood with difficulty and hobbled over to Yuffie. She wrapped an arm over Yuffie's shoulder and hugged her close.

"Oh, sweetie," Esme said softly, her motherly nature coming through, though her voice wobbled just slightly. "Why don't you show me where the kitchen is and I'll make you some tea."

The rest of the night consisted of Esme making Bella, Charlie and Yuffie dinner. Aerith had not returned and neither had Leon. Not that any of them cared about Leon. Well, Yuffie did care, but she was still saddened about what had just happened.

After dinner, Yuffie had showed them to some rooms. Charlie and Jasper would be sharing, while the three other girls would be sharing an even bigger room with three full beds.

None of them, not even Rosalie, had the heart to tell the young woman that the three Cullens had no need for sleep. After Yuffie herself had retired to the room she shared with Aerith, they all assembled in the living room of the safe house.

"This place is full of freaks," Rosalie grumbled as she stared out a window and into the night. "I say we get the hell out of here and start looking for Emmett, Alice, Father and Edward."

Bella winced at the mention of his name. Having felt the small discomfort and sadness, Jasper turned to Bella with a concerned frown.

"What did Edward say to you Bella?" Jasper asked suddenly, startling her. "What did he say to you to make you feel this much… Despair and hopelessness?"

Charlie was utterly confused. Jasper almost felt sorry for the poor man. Of course, Charlie still did not know that three of the Cullens had powers.

Everyone had looked at Bella and her cheeks pinked prettily. Esme's expression was of concern, while Charlie's was turning serious. Jasper could feel the extreme curiosity coming off of everyone, other than Bella. He could even feel the small discomfort that Charlie was beginning to feel. He had a feeling that Charlie was not at all comfortable talking about his daughter's romantic relationships.

And it seemed that once again Rosalie was full of surprises.

"Bella."

The girl in question looked toward Rosalie with surprise evident in her eyes. She wasn't the only one either. Jasper and Esme blinked at Rosalie in astonishment. Charlie on the other, he looked at Rosalie calmly.

He really did not know her as well as he knew Alice or Edward, but he liked her already. Charlie thought she was one 'tough cookie' who would most certainly never take shit from anyone. He liked the thought that his Bella had one such person as Rosalie in her friends circle.

Of course, little did Charlie know that Rosalie being Bella's friend was far from the truth.

Or was it, anymore?

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," said Rosalie softly, her gaze stuck to the wall to Bella's right. "We already know what an insensitive jackass he is."

Charlie stifled a chuckle. Jasper couldn't help but allow the feeling of hilarity wash over him like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. He giggled outright, but discontinued it when Esme frowned at him.

"Sorry, Mom," he shrugged. "But he is. A jackass, I mean."

"I know, Son."

Bella sighed, her eyes searching Rosalie's flawless face before she turned away. Charlie sighed also. He had a feeling what Bella was going to say, was not going to be good. If she wanted to talk, that was.

And then he wondered if Edward would be able to take bullet wounds…? Yes, Charlie had just found out that the boy who was dating his daughter was a vampire, but were these vampires the same as the ones he had learned about in the movies? Or were they different somehow? Charlie filed those question away for later. He'd ask Jasper another time.

_Get it off your chest, Isabella… Be brave, sweet girl…_

"No," Bella whispered, trying to sound confident. "It's um… It's…"

Bella took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut to keep the stinging of new tears at bay. "Ed-Ed… _He _came over to my house and he asked me if I would go for a walk him."

The three vampires looked at her sadly, while Charlie's expression had turned serious. Whatever Edward had said to her, it had hurt her badly. So badly that she seemed unable to say his name.

"I said okay," said Bella as she continued on quietly. "He was acting kind of strange… Kind of subdued and definitely withdrawn. He lead me to the trails just behind the house and we walked for just a minute before he stopped me…"

Charlie waited on baited breath. He gulped. Jasper, Rosalie and Esme stood as still as statue's, but they listened intently. Jasper could feel a tiny trickle of anger being formed. It was so small that it was difficult for him to pin point where exactly it was coming from.

Bella was being difficult to read all of a sudden. To Jasper, it was alarming. Her emotions were disappearing at an extremely fast pace. Bella was numbed to the core. Her emotions were completely cut off from him. Jasper stared at her in sadness, but Bella's gaze had dropped to a spot just above her shoes.

"He said that you were leaving somewhere," Bella's face and expression was blank and she tried to keep her voice from wobbling. "I misunderstood something and he… _He _corrected me. He said that that I was not going with you all. I asked him why and he said to me that he… that h-he…"

A tear fell. It made a dark spot on the knee of her jeans. It might as well have been a tidal wave, because Bella could not hold the emotions inside her any longer. Jasper clenched his teeth at the anger and helplessness that was leaking out of every pore of Bella's body. He held in a sob as overwhelming sadness and heartbreak came next.

The trickle of anger that he felt was steadily becoming stronger. It was as if someone was turning a faucet on and slowly letting the flow of the water build up.

"H-he told me that he --," Bella was stuttering now and her head fell forward so that her chin met her chest. "-- that all of you were leaving F-forks and that you w-weren't coming back."

Esme placed one hand over her forever still heart and the other over her mouth. Her eyes filled with venomous tears that would never fall. And then Jasper knew. He knew where the faucet of never ending anger was. Rosalie.

Rosalie fisted her hands, her body shaking.

It seemed that Rosalie was not the only person in the living room whom felt the anger. Charlie's face was steadily turning a shade of red. He was furious. Furious with the boy who had broken his little girl's heart.

"Bella," Rosalie said sadly and angrily. "I-..I'm…"

Jasper and Esme turned to look at the blond vampire. Rosalie hesitantly took a few steps forward until she was feet to feet with Bella. She knelt down and placed her trembling hands on the human girl's knees. Bella looked into Rosalie's butterscotch eyes.

Bella watched as Rosalie's mouth and features twisted in difficulty out of the usual blank and uncaring expression that she always set upon her face. She was trying to get out words that she never thought that she would be saying to anyone other than Emmett or her family.

"I-um," Rosalie said, trying to force the words out of her mouth. "I'm s-sorry, Bella… I'm _sorry _we all left you."

Fat tears streaked down Bella's face and her lower lip trembled. She fell forward, her body feeling exhausted with pain grief. She fell forward into Rosalie's arms. Rosalie held her firmly and allowed Bella to settle her face into the crook of her neck. Bella wrapped her arms around Rosalie and refused to let go.

The next thing she knew, she was being carried. To where, Bella really didn't care. She let the endless tears fall and allowed her emotions to take over.

Rosalie laid Bella on one of the full twin beds in the room that Yuffie had allowed them to stay in. Bella refused to let go of her so she settled in beside her, holding her like a mother would hold her child.

The blonde vampire petted Bella's hair as her sobs grew louder.

"He-- He…" Bella sobbed to Rosalie, unable to speak.

"Calm down, Bella," Rosalie whispered, trying to shush her softly. "You need to calm down and regain your breath. You don't have to talk about Ed - _Him_, anymore."

Bella looked into Rosalie's face with such broken sorrow that Rosalie had to involuntarily suck in an unneeded breath.

"He s-said he didn't… He didn't love me!…. He _doesn't _love me anymore…!"

Clenching her teeth, Rosalie kissed Bella's brow. Bella's sobs slowed and quieted until her breathing turned steady. It was too soon until she had fallen asleep in the safety and comfort of Rosalie's motherly and protective embrace.

It was in that moment that something had formed. An unspoken bond. And a promise.

Rosalie laid her blond head atop Bella's and sighed. Even with a frown on her face, she was still a beauty. She held Bella in her arms still. If it weren't for the gentle rhythm of her beating heart than Rosalie would have thought that Bella had given up completely.

"I will be your tutelary, Isabella Swan," Rosalie whispered softly into the quiet room, her voice breaking emotionally. "And above all else… I will be your… friend."

~*~

**The next day…**

"… _I will be your… friend."_

Alice sucked in a sob and managed to muffle it into her palm the moment her vision had evaporated from her mind. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that she would see a vision of Rosalie and Bella comforting each other in a familial way. Carlisle having heard her muffled sob with his superb hearing, looked at her with concern and he slowly wrapped an arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"Are you alright, Alice, dear?" he asked her softly.

She nodded demurely, before turned to gaze down into the coliseum ring. Since befriending Cloud they had all been able to gain access into the actual coliseum. Carlisle and Alice sat in the middle of the cheering crowds as they watched a red haired man named Hercules pummel a rather nasty looking beast of some sort with strengths that matched that of a vampire.

Edward decided not to attend. He had decided that the overwhelming emotions and many thoughts of the crowd would have been too much for him. So it was easily decided that he would go hunt. Edward had also decided that he had wanted some company. Alice and Carlisle had declined quickly and adamantly.

Emmett was much too slow on the uptake this time and so he became the one that Edward had dragged out and down into the human Greek world.

And Emmett had not gone quietly either. He had wanted to see the fighting in the coliseum so much that he had been on the verge of tears when Edward had began to drag him out to the human world where they would go to hunt.

And Alice was certainly happy about it now. There was no telling what Edward would have been like if he had glimpsed the vision at the same time as she. Alice sighed. Now she was going to have to think of ways to keep Edward from reading her mind and finding that particular vision.

She suddenly froze and then relaxed an instant later.

"We will be leaving tomorrow evening," Alice said at once.

Carlisle blinked at her. "Is it definite?"

Tilting her head to one side, Alice allowed her eyes to glaze over. Her butterscotch gaze was glassy as she was allowed a glimpse into the ever changing future.

She shook her head once her vision was over and wrinkled her nose. "No, it's not definite. It seems that the future of our departure is going to be decided by a spiky haired teen boy with a key sword…? Weird."

Carlisle nodded with a sideways glance at Alice.

_Key_blade_… It's called a Key_blade_, little miss all-seeing Alice…._

Alice rolled her eyes. "That's what I said, Carlisle. It's all the same really. Blade and sword…. What_ever_, Dad."

Carlisle gave her another sideways glance. This one was more confused.

"I didn't say anything, Alice," he said calmly.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes again, Alice frowned prettily. She looked around the cheering crowd suspiciously. She knew she was most certainly not hearing things. Alice knew the difference! She had been in a mental institution, after all!

"Then who was that?" she mumbled to herself.

Carlisle shrugged and patted her shoulder.

_Hello, Alice…_

Alice squeaked in surprise. She stood up quickly and began to sidestep out of the coliseum seats. Carlisle watched her, looking even more confused.

"Where are you going?" he yelled after her over the roar of the crowd.

"Powder room!" Alice yelled back to her father.

She ran out of the coliseum as fast as her Jimmy Choo's could take her. Which was pretty damn fast since she was a vampire. Thank goodness there was no one around to witness it. As soon as she was in the coliseum courtyard, Alice pressed her back into the closed doors and panted unnecessarily.

_Oh my. You're a dramatic one… Aren't you?…._

Alice hissed. "Whoever the hell you are, you _will _regret ever invading the mind of Mary Alice Brandon Cullen!"

_Definitely dramatic, sweetheart…._

She growled. "Who are you? And what the hell do you think you're doing in my mind? Do you have a pedicure appointment with death?"

_Calm yourself, Alice… I mean you no harm… I just thought I would visit the best friend of Isabella Marie Swan…_

Alice gasped and clenched her teeth. "What do you know about her? I swear to God that if you harm one hair on her he--"

_I would never harm her, Alice… She is my only hope-- _Our_ only hope at continued existence… As I continue to know and observe Isabella, I find that she is cementing herself in my heart…_

Sucking in a breath, Alice pouted. "Y-you mean that you love her?"

_Care, all-seeing Alice. I care for Isabella like she is my sister. I found it hard not to resist…_

"My family could not resist the love that we felt for Bella," the pixie haired vampire found herself saying wryly, and with love. "I certainly doubt that anyone could resist her. My sister Rosalie couldn't. And she's a bee_-otch_."

The voice chuckled to itself.

Feeling a little bit reassured, Alice tilted her head to the side in curiosity. She nibbled gently on her bottom lip. And then she gasped and tensed. A vision came to her unexpectedly.

Her vision became blurry and then she saw darkness. Darkness where everywhere around her. A spark shone. It grew brighter and larger until it was the size of a basketball and still steadily growing. Alice's vision was still slightly blurry. It wasn't until the light was right about 25 feet away from her until it occurred to her that the light was not in fact a light.

It was a person.

She could make out the silhouette of the person. A woman. Human? Vampire? Alice didn't know. The figure was blurred. She could make out the person's long and dark colored hair. This person was certainly taller than Alice, and willowy.

Just as the vision suddenly came, it was gone. It dissipated from her eyes as if it was fog burning away in the sun.

"Was that you?" Alice asked, feeling startled.

_Yes… I believe it was… How intriguing!_

Growling in irritation and disbelief, Alice stomped her foot. "I have no idea why, but I couldn't see you properly! That shouldn't have happened…"

_It is only to be expected, Alice…_

"What do you mean?" Alice asked quickly.

_Well, Alice, you see the future and sometimes you see the past… It seems that you saw my future, which really isn't far off from the truth…_

Alice found herself repeating her previous question.

_I am not as I should be, Alice… As you have seen, I am now nothing more than a blurred image of my real self… That is what _we _all are now… That is what she has done to us…_

"She?" Alice asked, once again biting on her lip. "Who is she?"

_She, Alice, is a magnificent yet malevolent being… Fittingly, she is called Maleficent… She is an evil witch filled with greed, jealousy and above all, hatred…_

Alice moved away from the coliseum doors and sat on a marble bench in the coliseum square. "This… Maleficent woman did that to you…? She made you into that blurry thingy?""

_Yes… She is using our pure hearts to her advantage to gain what she so desperately wants… she did this to me and to many others…_

Twiddling with the hem of her designer shirt, Alice was deep in thought. Why? Why did this Maleficent woman do this? How did she do it to -- ? And most importantly, why?

_My time with you is about to be cut short, I'm afraid… It was lovely meeting you, Alice…_

"Wait!" Alice suddenly said loudly. "What's your name?

_My name?… I must admit, all-seeing Alice, that I hardly remember anymore… But… I believe that my people once called me… Nia…_

Alice nodded to herself and then sighed.

_Goodbye, Alice…_

"Goodbye, Nia."

~*~

Bella hissed at the ray of light that flashed into her line of vision. She tugged the covers over her head before laying back down. She grumbled to herself.

Her face felt swollen and her eyes felt puffy and irritated. Of course they would, she had cried all over Rosalie for a while last night. In a flash she back into her sitting position, embarrassment flooding her every pore.

"Oh God!" she whispered to herself exasperatedly. "I cried all over Rosalie! _Rosalie!_"

_Get yourself together, Isabella… It's time to leave this world behind for another…_

Bella nodded to herself. She trusted the voice that whispered in her head, Yes, that may have sounded insane, but it was true. She trusted it. There was something about the voice, a woman's voice, that made her feel as if everything was going to be alright.

After a quick shower, Bella was back in her old clothes. They smelled fine, but she still couldn't shake off the feeling of wearing something dirty. But it really couldn't be helped. They were her only set of clothes, really. She slipped on her shoes before she stepped into the hallway.

_Everyone is in the other room conversing together… The room where your father and the vampire named Jasper are situated in… They know you are awake…_

Bella glanced at the just a few steps away from her. Sure enough she could hear their murmuring voices. She could have sworn she heard her name a few times.

_The other girl, called Yuffie is in the kitchen… Go to the kitchen…_

Bella took soft steps to the kitchen and pushed open the swinging door. She let it close with a quiet swoosh behind her. Yuffie was sitting at a long kitchen table with a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of orange juice.

"Oh," said Yuffie as she looked up from her late breakfast. "Hi, Bella. Guess what? Mrs. Cullen went food shopping really early in the morning."

Bella was surprised. She stood there waiting for instruction and looked confused.

"But wouldn't that have been dangerous?" Bella asked incredulously.

Yuffie grinned. "Not really. In the morning hours when the sun is getting ready to peak up and the crowds of merchants are together, it's actually pretty safe. Almost all the merchants know how to protect themselves and their goods so… Yup."

"Oh," Bella whispered, nodding. "That's good then."

_See the door?…_

Bella set her eyes on a large, windowless door to her left. It was painted a peeling dark brown and the lock was not engaged. The door must have been used recently.

_That door leads to a back alleyway… Go back to the hallway…_

She backed into the hallway and turned around to face it.

_Go to Yuffie and Aerith's room… Aerith is sleeping, but don't worry, she will not awaken. Use soft quick steps…_

Bella followed directions to the door a few steps away from her. She opened and closed the door. Aerith was laying on her stomach with her head facing away from her. Her even breathing sounded thunderous in the small quiet room.

_Go to the closet…_

Bella used the same quick and soft steps to the closet. She opened it and peered in at the hanging clothes. They were mostly of long coats and cloaks.

_Choose a dark, long sleeved coat with a hood, Isabella…_

She took out a long, midnight blue cloak and closed the closet softly. Bella looked toward Aerith, but she had not made a sound in the whole while she had been in the room. She slowly, but surely put the cloak on and zipped it to her neck. It was comfortable and warm.

_Are you ready, Isabella? Just nod or shake your head…_

Bella nodded, yes.

_Do you trust me, Isabella?…_

She nodded again. And she clenched her hands with a deep breath. She thought about her dad, Rosalie, Esme and Jasper. What would they think of her leaving like this? What would they think of her leaving them behind?

She sighed. It couldn't be helped. She had to do this.

_Don't worry, sweetheart… All will be revealed in time… I will not steer you into danger… It's time…_

Bella pulled her hood over her head.

_Yuffie is in the restroom… Go to the kitchen quickly…_

Bella, forgetting to close the door behind her used her quick soft steps to the kitchen. She let the door swing madly behind her before she lunged for the door.

_Hurry… The Cullens are curious… Close the door as softly as you can behind you…_

Bella stepped out of the kitchen and into the setting sunlight. She shielded her eyes before slamming the door behind her on accident. She cursed before sprinting as fast as she could down the alleyway.

_Slow down… They won't come after you… The sun is at your advantage… They would not want to reveal themselves to the locals…_

"BELLA!!"

She turned to look over her shoulder and saw both Rosalie and Jasper leaning out of the kitchen door. The sunlight was hitting them directly in the face and sparkles that resembled diamonds shone off of them brightly.

Jasper looked upset and confused, while Rosalie was seething.

_Before you reach the Inn, take a sharp left… Go through the door…_

"BELLA!"

It was her father's voice this time and she could hear pounding footfalls behind her. He was following her and a feeling of urgency hit her as she took a sharp left and flung open a door.

Little Dalmatian puppies yipped and yowled as she ran past them and deeper into what looked like a home. Bella flung herself out of the home filled with spotted puppies and fell to her knees.

_Get up, Bella! Remember where the 1st district is? Go!_

Bella stood up onto her shaky feet and ran passed the 2nd District fountain, her hood flying off of her head. The sun was steadily setting and she picked up her pace. Her calves and thighs were burning, begging her to stop but her beating heart was filled with panic and urgency and they fueled her to go on.

As she threw open the doors to the 1st District, Bella pulled her hood over her head again.

_Jump down into the alley… You know which alley, after all it was the alley that you had woken up in…_

With shaky and weak legs he hopped down onto a couple of crates before jumping down into the familiarly cobbled alley. She stood in between a jewelry store and an outdoor tavern.

A blond haired man was walking out of the jewelry store with a box under one arm. He wiped at the side of his nose before taking stomping steps toward two massive doors that were no doubt led out of Traverse Town.

_Follow him… His name is Sid and he is a trader of sorts…Follow him to his Gummi ship and tell him you are looking for work… And a ride…_

Bella jogged gently just as the blond haired man pushed open the doors. She sped up, just barely squeezing through before they closed behind the man. The sun was setting and the last ray of light disappeared quickly.

"What the hell--?!" the man named Sid exclaimed, startled at the way Bella had snuck up on him. "Will you watch where year fucking going, kid?!"

_Change of plans, introduce yourself… the Cullens and your father are looking for you in the Town… They will not think that you have left Traverse Town immediately, but it is only a matter of time… use a false name…_

"I'm--" Bella froze, unable to think of a new name.

_Nia…_

"I'm Nia!"

Sid froze and stared down at her in disbelief. He quickly shook it off of his face before he jutted his chin at her in question. Bella couldn't help but notice some kind of inkling of remembrance in Sid's narrowed eyes.

"Yeah?" he asked, suspiciously. "Don't tell me you want a ride, Nia?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. I can work for the ride, though."

Sid began to walk with the box in her arms. Bella jogged to keep up with the long legged man. Immediately outside of Traverse Town was a large dock yard that was already filled with Gummi ships in different shapes and sizes.

Sid stopped in front of one particular ship. It was as large as a house and white and blue in color. On the side of the ship were the words _Highwind _painted in white and in cursive. With a push of a side button the rear cargo hold opened up and Sid began to climb right into it. Bella followed right after him.

"What exactly can you do?" Sid grunted rudely.

_Appeal to his stomach… Sid is a lousy cook…_

"I can cook," Bella said quickly. "I can cook real good!"

His bright blue eyes brightened considerably and he grinned down at her, dropping the box next to a stack of wooden crates. Sid grabbed her hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"Yer hired, kid!" he roared with laughter.

Sighing in relief, Bella rested back against the cargo crates and cracked an exasperated smile at the man. She chuckled hesitantly as he continued to laugh, rubbing his stomach in hunger. He suddenly clapped a hand on her shoulder, almost knocking her forward onto her knees.

"Why don't you take a look around the ship, kid," he suggested, popping a toothpick into his mouth from out of nowhere. "My baby here is pretty straight forward. It won't take you long to get your baring. I'll show you to your room as soon as I can get my baby in the sky. And after you make me a good meal, we'll talk about where you want to head to."

With that said, Sid picked up the box he had dropped and sauntered off into his vessel. The cargo door began to close on it's own. She leaned back again and allowed herself to slide down onto her bottom with a plop. She grunted when she hit the ground and took another much needed sigh of relief.

"Did you actually think you would get away from me?"

Bella froze. She looked up into an angry set of butterscotch eyes, surrounded by long blond hair. Rosalie stared down at her with angry eyes, a snarl and crossed arms.

_Oh, dear… Not even I saw her coming…_

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Bella," Rosalie snarled. "Or should I say, _Nia?"_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. My internet stopped working for a couple of days, so I'm using my work computer... even though I shouldn't. Enjoy! Replies and feedback would be great! -- JMMendiola**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts!**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Rosalie said, twirling a blonde curl around her finger. "There is a voice in your head? A woman's voice that's been telling you what to do?"

Bella nodded, hesitantly. Her cheeks pinked and she nibbled on her lower lip.

After sending a quick letter to the safe house with a little person called a Moogle, Rosalie had bartered a room on Sid's ship. She was now a pair of canary diamond earrings short, but at least she was able to intrigue a part of Sid's mind that loved all things shiny. It had been more than an hour now and she stayed quiet as Sid took his ship into the air.

And now, Rosalie was staring at Bella. She had listened for the better part of the hour to what Bella had to say. It had started off from where Edward had left her in woods.

"You know," Rosalie said with a blank face. "I have half a mind to get that perverted old man to turn this thing around and take us back to Traverse Town!"

Bella stood her ground and clenched her fists. "No."

Rosalie sneered. "What the hell do you mean, _no_?"

"You heard me," Bella said with a replica sneer of her own. "I'm not going back to Traverse Town. I have something to do. I have to do something real important. I can feel it in my very being, Rosalie!"

Turning her back on the blond vampire, Bella walked out of the room that Sid had allowed her to stay in, an empty bowl in one hand. A sudden gust of wind ruffled her hair and Rosalie blocked her way to the kitchen.

"Get out of my way, Rosalie," Bella said with clenched teeth.

Growling, Rosalie took a predatory step forward. "We are going back to Traverse Town and that is final!"

It was in that second that Sid had decided to stick his head out of the pilots pit. He grinned and glanced between Bella and Rosalie with child like abandon.

"Woo," he cheered and sang. "Cat _fiiiiiiight_!"

"Shut up!" both Rosalie and Bella yelled at him simultaneously.

Sid's eyes widened before he ducked his head back in quickly. Bella tried to walk around Rosalie, only to be blocked again. And again

Bella got a glint in her eye and she set the bowl on the floor by the wall. Just as she reached full height the Keyblade appeared in her hands and she crouched, ready to fight. Rosalie threw her head back and laughed.

"Y-you can't be serious-OOF!"

Rosalie found herself flung across the hall and into the kitchen, with wide eyes. She was on her feet instantly, her eyes still wide and her hands clutching at her sore stomach. Where had all that strength come from? From Bella? But she was just a human!

"Did you just kick me?" Rosalie shrieked at Bella in disbelief.

"I did," the brown haired human confirmed through still clenched teeth. "I won't fight you, but if I have to - I will defend myself from you."

The vampire watched, still struck with disbelief at Bella's kick to her stomach. The Keyblade in Bella's hands disappeared in a shower of sparks. Bella then picked up her bowl and walked into the kitchen to place it into the dishwasher.

"How did she do that?" Rosalie whispered to herself.

Although she would never admit it out loud - to anyone, other than Emmett - she was hurt. Mentally, not physically.

She was a vampire after all. She had enough strength in her index finger to do push-ups with an elephant or two on her back! The question had never crossed her mind before - any of the Cullen's minds - but was Bella even human?

_Don't underestimate Isabella, Rosalie Hale…_

Rosalie gasped and looked about her at vampire speed. Bella walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water and watched with a frown as the blond vampire began to look increasingly paranoid and just plain freaked out.

"What?" she gasped and then turned to Bella. "Did you hear that?"

Smirking, Bella walked passed her to the room that they would be sharing.

"I didn't hear anything," Bella said with a laugh. "Maybe you're hearing _voices_, Rosalie?"

She growled at the human's back and followed her into the room. Bella sat cross legged on the bunk bed and sipped at her glass while Rosalie stood over her, glaring.

"I'm not fucking hearing voices!" Rosalie growled.

_Of course not. I am most certainly not a voice from someone's demented fantasies…._

Rosalie squeaked. "There it was again!"

"That is who I was talking about," Bella said quietly. "Believe me now?"

The blonde remained silent and still as a statue. Her eyes darted around the room suspiciously. She looked like she was thinking heavily. Bella rolled her eyes and finished her glass of water. She set the glass on a small side table and looked up at the vampire, just as Rosalie looked down at her.

"What are you?" Rosalie blurted.

Looking up at Rosalie, Bella gave her a confused and queer look.

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you human?" Rosalie asked instantly, again.

"Of course I am," Bella said dryly. "Don't be stupid."

Rosalie sneered, "I'm not being stupid, you little bitch! Didn't Edward even explain to you the details of our vampire bodies? What you did to me - kicked me in the stomach and sent me flying a few feet - is supposed to be physically impossible!"

The brown haired, brown eyed human looked up at the blond haired vampire with wide eyes. Not even bothered by Rosalie's cursing insult, Bella blinked.

"Well…" she whispered to herself. "Shit… I mean, I forgot."

"What do you mean, you _forgot_?" Rosalie demanded.

"Ed- He did tell me," Bella began to explain. "He didn't really give me specific details, but I sort of got the gist of it. He did put a dent in Tyler's car. He did tell me that the only thing that could pierce the skin of a vampire's was another vampire's teeth."

"And that's all?"

Bella nodded slowly.

Rosalie hissed. "Leave it to the fuck-ward to leave shit out."

Her side of her mouth was twitching and Bella was aching to giggle at the insult that had no doubt been meant for _him_. A snicker escaped out. She sucked it back in. Bella watched as Rosalie crossed her arms with a irritated scowl.

"He was right about those things," Rosalie said grudgingly. "Only another vampire has the power to tear another vampire to pieces. Just like we did James back in Phoenix."

Bella couldn't help but unconsciously running a finger over the crescent shaped scar on her arm. Rosalie watched. She held back a curse and quickly looked away before the human could catch her staring.

She continued on. "And that's just it. Only vampires are able to physically hurt vampires. And fire too, of course. What you did to me is just physically impossible! If an eighteen wheeler hit me at 200 mph I wouldn't even have a scratch on me… Well, my clothes would probably be torn to shreds."

Bella blinked. "Wow."

Rosalie scoffed. "Is that all you have say? 'Wow'?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Bella said in an exaggeratedly apologetic voice. "Should I have bowed down to the super strong vampire and kissed her feet?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "You've really grown a pair of balls, haven't you? Anyway, an explanation would be nice."

"I don't have one, Rosalie. I really don't know how I was able to do that."

_I think I may be able to offer some kind of explanation…. It is only a theory, though, so please just take it into consideration and not as fact…_

Bella and Rosalie perked up. Bella with interest and Rosalie with a flinch.

"I cannot believe I am about to listen to a disembodied voice in my head," she muttered to herself darkly.

_Well, I believe that -_

In was in that moment that someone knocked on the door. They both turned just as Sid stuck his head into the room. He wore a rakish grin on her face that brightened his whole demeanor.

"Hello, ladies."

"What do you want, old man?" sneered Rosalie automatically.

Sid's grin quickly disappeared and his mouth twitched. Normally, Sid was a snaky and sarcastic son of a bastard with a mouth as foul as a sailor's. But around these girls, it seemed that he just could not find in himself to be… himself.

Under Rosalie's scrutinizing gaze, he wanted to scurry away. There was something predatory about this blond haired beauty. Her extremely pale skin and white teeth seemed to rub him the wrong way. And it tickled at his memory…

She wasn't normal, that was for sure. Or at least that was what his inner being was hinting at him.

And she was just plain scary.

He was almost certain that if she wanted to, Rosalie would be able to tear him to pieces with her bare hands. Sid tilted his head to the side in thought and his grin was surely, but slowly making a reappearance. His inner 'devil' conscious was springing up onto his shoulder and pulling on his earlobe with a toothy and perverted smile. 'Being torn to pieces by a beautiful woman would sure be a good way to go, pal…'

Sid was suddenly brought out his thoughts and he squawked in surprise. Rosalie had taken the front of his shirt in her fisted, little hand and yanked him forward with a snarl.

"Rosalie!" the brown haired girl called Nia exclaimed.

"What do you want, you perverted old fool?" Rosalie growled. "I'm gunna bash that disgusting Chester-the-molester grin off of your face if you don't explain quick enough!"

"Eh," Sid chuckled hesitantly and then gulped. "I-I was just going to ask you girl's if you had a specific place you were headed to…?"

Rosalie let go of his shirt and he stumbled back a few steps. He hadn't known it at the time, but the blond had actually managed to pull him up onto the tips of his toes. Sid watched as Rosalie turned to look at Nia. The brown haired girl called Nia returned the look before setting her brown eyes on him.

"We'll get back to you on that okay?"

Sid nodded and made a quick exit. The door slammed shut behind him. Sighing in satisfaction, Rosalie took a seat on the bed across from Bella's.

"Where were we?" Rosalie said aloud.

_As I was saying previously, I believe that your new found strength has to be the doing of your new status as a Keyblade wielder…_

"You mean that weird ass sword that Bella keeps on popping out of nowhere?" Rosalie murmured, more to herself than to the voice of the woman.

_Yes, you would be correct… that is one theory. I just came up with another… If it turns out that it is not the effect of the Keyblade, then it is a possibility that Isabella is not the problem. The problem would be you, Rosalie. You, and quite possibly the rest of your family…_

Both Rosalie and Bella gasped. They turned to look at each other in alarm.

_There is a possibility that you and your family could be turning human…_

Silence was dominant in the small living cabin for a few seconds. Rosalie and Bella stared at each other, not exactly seeing each other but quietly mulling over the thoughts in each other's heads.

The blond vampire was the first to recover.

"Bullshit!"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Let's hear your opinion or theory, then?"

Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest and spoke briskly . "I don't have a theory for this foolish conversation. I just have my opinion -"

"Yay," Bella muttered under her breath darkly.

"- and there would be no way that that particular theory would be able to happen!" she exclaimed. "That would impossible! _Impossible_!"

"Well, why the hell not?" Bella asked, rising up in defense of the feminine voice that had spoken to them both. "I could have sworn a week ago that it was impossible for a person to have been taken to another world, right?"

Huffing to herself unnecessarily, Rosalie sat down on the small twin bed that would be hers. It wasn't as if she needed it, but it still gave her comfort that she would have some kind of sanctuary to snuggle into. It took a few quiet minutes for Bella's words to sink in.

She was afraid to admit to herself, but it was possible that they were in fact turning human. After all, before Carlisle had turned her she had believed that vampires had been a myth. And now that she had been sucked into a swirling black vortex and spirited to another world, who's to say that vampires couldn't be turned back into humans?

"I miss my husband," Rosalie sighed into the pillow, closing her eyes and turning her back to Bella.

She tensed as she felt her bed dip behind her. Bella sighed as she snuggled into Rosalie's back, her forehead leaning against the blond vampire's shoulder.

She missed Edward.

_You are both exhausted. Get some sleep, Isabella and you should rest up as well, Rosalie. When Isabella wakes we - well, actually _you both _- will inform Sid that we are trying to visit an older gentleman by the name of Yen Sid… Sweet dreams…_

**The Next Day…**

"Today is the day!"

Alice grinned an impossible grin. Both Carlisle and Edward were sure they could hear the tearing and creaking of metal from the way she grinned. Emmett grinned like his sister and clapped his hands together in child-like abandon.

Edward rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth at the random thoughts of the three members of his family. His father was eager to see and hold his wife in his arms. Emmett was eager to do … other activities. He grimaced and gagged mentally as Emmett went as far as to think in detail about what he wanted to do to Rosalie, his _sister_.

"You disgusting pig," Edward muttered in disgust. "I hope we don't see Rosalie for a while yet. That way you can pleasure your own self to blindness."

Carlisle's lips thinned and they twitched wildly. He tried to keep a disapproving frown onto his face, but he was fighting a losing battle. Sniggering loudly, Alice covered her mouth with a dainty hand. They guessed rather quickly to themselves that Edward must have seen something in Emmett's mind.

Emmett looked sideways at Edward and sucked his teeth. "No one told you to stick your nose in my thoughts, bro."

Edward sneered. "I wasn't anywhere near your thoughts. You're projecting your desires without even knowing it."

_Today is the day! Oh, I can't wait to see my Jazzy! It shouldn't be too long now, where is that spiky haired kid with his pet duck and pet dog…?_

That was Alice, obviously. Edward waded through her thoughts and came across one that did not seem familiar to him. It was of a spiky haired teen. He looked to be about fifteen and he was holding an oddly shaped weapon. Was that a sword?

Beside the teen boy were two beings that absolutely boggled his mind. The largest duck he had ever seen in his life was walking alongside the boy, and it was wearing a shirt. On the other side of the teen was a dog fully clothed.

Guessing that Edward must have also taken a look into her mind, Alice grinned at him.

"I know," she said with excitement. "It's so weird! But I can't help but feel excited!"

This grabbed Emmett's attention. Edward was grateful of that. The burly vampire had abruptly stopped all the extremely pornographic thoughts in a nanosecond.

"Excited about what?" Inquired Emmett. "Come on! I want in on this!"

Alice squealed in anticipation. "You're just going to have to wait, Em! But I guarantee you that it will be worth it!"

"AWW COME ON!"

"Emmett Cullen! That was my ear, young man!"

"Sorry, Dad…"

"_Sorry, Daddy_…"

"HEY! SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLE ED-STROGEN!"

"FUCK YOU, EMMETT!"

Before the two boys could launch at each other they were suddenly grabbed by the back of their collars. Carlisle dragged them out of the stands with an outraged and furious look upon his face. Edward and Emmett glanced sideways at each other in shock and fear. Never in their lives had that ever seen their father so furious.

Watching with wide eyes and a delighted grin, Alice followed after her father and two brothers with glee radiating from every pore. She was very certain that if her Jazz was here he would be soaking up her happiness like a sponge… But he wasn't.

She frowned sadly and sighed.

Catching each other's eyes, Alice's grin returned with a vengeance and she wiggled her fingers at Emmett and Edward with a giggle.

"You're in trouble!" she mouthed to them silently before smothering another snigger with her fist.

Emmett flipped her the bird and Edward sneered as their father proceeded to drag them out of the coliseum, to the coliseum square. They were abruptly and unceremoniously thrown on all fours onto the square floor.

"Just _what _has gotten into you two?" Carlisle said quietly, his voice drenched in venom.

All three of them flinched at the way his voice dripped with dangerous warning. When Carlisle was angry, there was no escaping his wrath if you were the focus of it. His anger was almost as scary as their mother Esme's. Almost. Not quite.

Carlisle paced back and forth in front of them. He was a blur to the human eye. With one hand on his chin and the other wrapped around his chest, Carlisle stopped and frown down at them with a disappointed glint in his eye.

"Your mother and I have taught you boys better," he said to them. "Unfortunately, I will have no other choice but to inform your mother of your behaviors as soon as we are reunited."

Edward bowed his head in defeat while Emmett rose to his knees and took on a prayer position. Emmett crawled to Carlisle and pleaded.

"Nooo!" he cried. "No, Dad, no! Please! Mom's going to take away my Xbox!"

Rolling his eyes, Carlisle swatted at Emmett's head. It sounded as if someone threw a stone brick down onto a concrete sidewalk.

"It's for your own good, Son," Carlisle said, sounding sympathetic. "Take it like a man. Now, lets get back into the coliseum before the humans begin to arrive and take our seats."

Emmett rose to follow after Carlisle and Edward made to do so also. Until Alice grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. Edward gritted his teeth in actual pain as he glared down at his height challenged sister.

"What the hell?" he growled at her. "Were you trying to rip my whole arm off?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen. I didn't even pull your arm that hard!"

His glare darkened. "What do want?"

"I just thought that you would enjoy the show," Alice grinned.

She grabbed him by the same arm and dragged him behind a gold leg of one of the golden statues. Edward growled as they waited. Alice had positioned them so that she was in front and he was in back of her. They peered out sideways and watched the golden entrance doors.

"What show are we waiting for exactly?" Edward asked quietly, annoyed.

He was tired. Not physically, of course, but mentally. He was missing Bella so much. Edward had anticipated that he would miss his love, but he didn't anticipate that it would actually _hurt_. His un-beating heart ached so bad that it almost felt physical. Edward was sure that if any of this had ever happened, he would sank into quiet despair somewhere in his room.

As he thought more and more about Bella, Edward was suddenly distracted by the opening of the doors. His eyes widened.

There, dressed exactly as he had seen from Alice's vision, was the spiky haired boy. On either side of the boy was the duck and the dog. They were much more peculiar looking in person than from the vision.

They watched as the trio walked toward the entrance to the coliseum and walked in. Alice pulled Edward along with her and they quietly slipped in behind them.

Phil was standing on a stone chair as he fixed the sign beside the door that led to the coliseum ring. He was trying to make sure that it was straight, which both Alice and Edward could tell with their vampiric eyesight that it was far from straight.

"Um…" the boy said aloud to Phil's hairy back.

Without turned around Phil sighed with satisfaction. "Good timing. Give me hand, will ya?"

Phil motioned to large square stone. Again he didn't bother to turn around.

"Move that pedestal over there for me," the red haired satyr commanded. "I gotta spruce this place up for the games!"

Alice snickered loudly In her mind. With one hand Edward covered her mouth before she would give them away. They both watched in silence as the boy looked over the pedestal before trying to push it. It didn't budge an inch and Alice was suddenly over come with a few shakes.

A warm and wet something brushed against his palm. Edward pulled a disgusted face and yanked his hand away from her mouth.

"You licked me!" he yelled in disgust.

Alice whined as the trio turned and spotted them. Phil turned and glared at them all. Well, he glared at everyone who wasn't female.

"What are you guys doin' here? You ain't Herc!"

Phil hopped off of the stone he had been standing on and looked mainly at the three newcomers. Edward and Alice watched as he waved them off and began to walk toward the trio of new faces.

"This here is the world-famous Coliseum -" Phil began to explain. "Heroes Only, kid!"

With another hand gesture, Phil motioned to them. "Those two know the spiel of it all. I've got my hands full preparing for the games, so run along pipsqueaks!"

Alice snickered loudly at the pout that was forming on the boy's face as Phil dismissed them so rudely. Phil rolled his eyes at the boy's face and sighed.

"It's like this, kid," Phil said as he fisted his hands and put them on his hips. "Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monster right here in the Coliseum."

The duck chose this moment to finally talk. "You've got heroes right in front of you!"

Edward blinked in surprise, while Alice cooed silently.

"That is so cute!"

"Yup," the dog spoke too, placing his hands onto the boys shoulders. "He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade, hyuck!"

"And we're heroes, too!" the duck quaked.

Alice gasped in surprise.

_Keyblade? That's right, the Keyblade! _Her thoughts whispered. Edward turned to his sister in surprise. He had no idea what a Keyblade was. But his sister did? With a soft nudge of his power Edward tried to invade her thoughts and he found that his sister had suddenly began to sing a song on repeat.

_My thong, thong, thong, thong, thong…._

He grimaced. That was a song he could definitely do without. And an image.

"You're hiding something," he hissed.

Alice ignored them and they turned their attention back to the others. Phil had suddenly began to laugh out loud, slapping his hands onto his knees.

"That runt?" Phil laughed. "A hero?"

The boy looked affronted. "What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!"

Phil continued to laugh on so hard that he began to hack cough. He leaned against the pedestal that the boy had been unable to move.

"You couldn't even move this pedestal!" Phil hacked out before composing himself.

Edward couldn't help but agree with the satyr. There was no way this kid would be able to fight in the games. And besides, if Phil let this kid into the games Emmett would most certainly cry like a baby over the unfairness.

On second thought, Edward wondered to himself with a growing grin, it wouldn't be so bad.

"If you can't even move this…" Phil put all his weight into pushing the pedestal and not to their surprise, he couldn't move it.

"Then you can't call yourself…" he grunted as he turned and tried to push with his legs. "… A hero!"

"Err," Emmett suddenly stepped forward, surprising them all. "Let me get that for you."

Alice and Edward watched in glee as Emmett picked up the stone pedestal with one hand and placed it into the corner.

"Where did you come from?" Edward asked loudly.

Emmett pretended to scratch an itch on the back of his neck. "Err, I had to go to the little boy's room?"

"Nice try," Alice grinned. "Now try again, Emmy."

He bowed his head with a pout. "Fine, I followed you guys when I saw that you didn't follow after me and Carlisle."

A grunt of strain suddenly caught the three vampire's attentions. They all glanced at each other at human speed, for the benefit of the three newcomers, and then looked down. Phil stood on the tips of his hoofs and had his small hands around one of Emmett's arms.

The satyr looked to be trying to feel the muscles on Emmett's arm.

"You've got yourself some heavy duty guns, kid," Phil whistled in appreciation when he pulled back his hands. "Hard as rock, kid, hard as rock."

Emmett grinned. "You have no idea."

Phil glanced back at the three newcomers before turning his attention back to Emmett. He was also sporting a grin of his own.

"What do ya say to entering the games then, kid?" Phil suddenly asked, drawing gasps from all in the tiny room. "I didn't see it before, but you might just have the look of a hero after all."

"Hey!" the duck squawked in outrage. "What about Sora?"

"Yeah," Sora yelped loudly. "What about me?"

Emmett's grin widened. "Hell ye-"

"NO!" both Alice and Edward suddenly yelled out in unison.

They both grabbed onto either one of Emmett's arms and began to drag him out to the coliseum square. Alice turned at the last minute and waved to Phil with smile.

"Sorry, Phil!" Alice waved cheerfully. "But my brother is going to have to take a rain check on doing the hero stuff. See you from the seats!"

As soon as they were able to drag their brother out to the coliseum square, they released him. Emmett turned to them with a pout on his face.

"Come on!" Emmett whined. "Why can't I?"

Edward sucked on his teeth. "You know why. We have more important priorities to keep in the forefront of our minds and being a _coliseum hero _is most certainly not one them, Brother."

They watched as Emmett bowed his head with a frown. He nodded quickly before giving an unnecessary sigh. Emmett scratched the back of his neck and shuffled his feet.

"I know… I just didn't want to pass it up," he said quietly. "I mean, when was the last time someone asked me to be a hero and fight monsters? Uh, _never_."

Actually feeling sorry for his brother for the first time that day, Edward smiled. He clapped a hand on Emmett's shoulder and began to lead him back to the coliseum seats. Alice pranced away before them to join their father.

"Cheer up, Em," he said quietly. "You never know… When all this mess is over and we find everyone, maybe we'll be able to come back and you could do the hero bit…"

Looking sad, Emmett looked off to his right with a pout.

"Yeah, maybe."

Edward patted his shoulder again and walked off after Alice. He could hear the heavy footfalls of Emmett's steps as his brother followed behind him. A look over his shoulder confirmed that his brother was indeed followed behind him. He would have to keep an eye on Emmett. There was no telling if maybe the childish vampire would maybe turn tail and run to Phil.

He had been so preoccupied with Emmett that he had not noticed Alice. Edward turned just as his sister pounced on him sideways. Her legs wrapped around his waist while one arm snaked around his neck to cover his mouth. Edward glared darkly at the much younger vampire before he stumbled forward as Emmett walked right into his back.

"What's the fucking hold up, man?" Emmett whined. "We're going to miss the show!"

Alice placed a manicured finger over her lips. "Shhh… Listen."

Both males tensed. All three of them were standing in the shadows near the entrance to the coliseum seats. Well, really Edward and Emmett were the only ones standing, while Alice had wrapped herself around Edward. If she were just two feet shorter it would look as if Edward were toteing a toddler on his hip.

There was a covered, VIP seating box for the heroes just before the entrance. They could make out the faint voices of two men. One was familiar while the other was not.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay?" said the unfamiliar voice. "Now, don't blow it. Just take him out."

"The great god of the underworld is afraid of a kid?" the familiar person asked, his voice laced with sarcasm and amusement.

"Cloud," they all breathed together in unison.

Cloud chuckled. "Sorry, but my contract says -"

"I know!" the unfamiliar person shouted. "You think I don't know! I wrote the contract! It says you're only required to kill Hercules in the tournament. But you've got to fight that kid to get to him!"

Alice's hold on him tightened as the unfamiliar person's voice rose and Edward hissed. Not in discomfort, but in anger. So this is what Cloud's business was on this world. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak. He had signed a contract with a man known as the 'god of the underworld' to kill another man named Hercules.

And now he was being ordered to kill someone else. A kid just a few years younger than his beautiful Bella.

This was unexceptable.

"Hey, it's like that old red haired goat says," the unfamiliar man said to Cloud, his voice switching from angry to joking in a second. "Rule 11: it's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it!"

Emmett growled behind him and Alice huffed, laying her head onto his shoulder. Edward's growl mingled with his brother's. How dare this person talk so lightly and happily about ending the life of a child!

"I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" the 'god of the underworld' chuckled. The crunching of the coliseum gravel told them that Cloud had obviously walked away.

"Geez," the god of the underworld sneered. "Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by…"

Gravel crunched for a second time. He was gone. Alice released Edward from her hold and hopped down. She crossed her arms and frowned sadly.

"So that's why Cloud is here," she said sadly. "He signed some contract with the god of the underworld to kill some guy named Hercules."

"And now that guy is making him kill that Sora kid," Emmett said with a blank look upon his face. "What are we going to do?"

"Nothing."

Both Alice and Emmett turned to Edward with thunderstruck expressions. Emmett was the first to recover and he did so with anger. Edward heard both his words and his thoughts.

"You can't fucking mean that, bro!" _He can't fucking mean that, not even _he_ can be that black hearted… Than again he hasn't been acting like himself, like old Edward since he made us leave Bella. I told Jasper we should have made a family vote to rename him Douche-ward…_

Edward hissed and exposed his teeth. "I do mean it!"

"How could you!" Alice shouted in outrage. _You asshole! _"He's just a child!"

"And it's none of our business!" Edward shouted back. "If you had to chose between some kid we just barely met and Jasper, WHO would you chose, Alice?"

His sister turned her face away from him and launched herself into Emmett's arms for comfort. Emmett glared at him darkly.

_Jasper…_

"That's right, Alice," Edward said quietly. "And I would choose Bella. Just like Carlisle and Emmett would choose Mom and Rosalie."

They were silent for a few human seconds before Edward decided to speak again.

"Cloud is our only way off of this world," Edward said quietly, glaring down at his feet. "If we go against his plans to- to _kill _this Sora kid… than we won't have a way to get to the rest of our family… I'm sorry."

"You should apologize to the kid, Edward," Emmett whispered before he gathered a sorrowful Alice in his arms.

Edward watched as they walked to the coliseum stands. He growled before he delivered a punch into the stone wall beside him. It cracked under his fist and he watched as a crumbled hole appeared in the place where his fist had connected.

"Oh, Bella," Edward sighed.

He put his back to the wall and let his body slide down to the ground. Edward laid his head onto his knees. He knew he was being an asshole, as Alice had said in her thoughts. A douche, like Emmett had thought. He was willing to sacrifice a boy and his two abnormal friends so that they're family would be reunited.

"Oh God," he moaned. "Am I doing the right thing? I don't know what I'm doing! Oh, Bella.. I need you. I love you."

"Edward!"

He raised his head and watched as Alice ran toward him at vampire speed. Her previous mood seemed to have been forgotten and replaced by one of elation and relief.

"Oh my God! Oh my _EFFING_ God!" she squealed.

He sprang to his feet and approached her at the same speed.

"What happened! What's the matter?"

"He beat him! He actually did it!"

"What? Who?"

"Sora! Sora beat Cloud! Cloud didn't kill him!"

They ran together toward the coliseum seats and stopped just at the entrance that looked down toward the coliseum battle ring. Cloud and Sora stood in the middle of it. Cloud stood from his kneeling position and looked toward Sora. The talking duck and dog were running toward Sora to congratulate him.

"Oh thank God," Edward breathed out. "Oh Thank G- HOLY SHIT!"

Just as Cloud was about to stand from his position a huge monster suddenly barreled out of no where. It's three heads barked and growled down at Cloud, Sora, Donald and Goofy. Down at the bottom most seats that were the closests to the coliseum ring, Carlisle and Emmett looked on in disbelief.

"RUN!" Edward bellowed down to the people who were in the battle ring. "IT'S A CERBERUS! RUN!"

Just as they all began to run the monster reared it's head, preparing to launch down at the four people in the battle ring, Edward saw a flash of red hair.

"HERC!" Phil yelled out from the other side of the coliseum seats.

"Phil!" The man named Herc yelled back at Phil. "Get them out of here!"

"Come on!" Edward grabbed onto his sister's upper arm as their father and brother ran toward them at the exit. "We're going!"

"What?" his sister cried out in outrage. "We have to help that guy!"

"Sorry, little sister," Emmett apologized as he slung her over his shoulder and ran with her to the coliseum square. Edward and Carlisle followed after them.

"No! We have to help!"

"No, Sweetheart!" Carlisle said sternly to his daughter, willing her to listen. "This is not our fight, Alice."

Sora and his two friends barged into the square. Phil was right behind them, panting from the exertion. Cloud walked calmly after them. He nodded to the Cullens. They were just about to walk toward him when Alice suddenly stiffened.

"Wait!" she whispered. "Give them a moment!"

They looked at with confusion, but stood their ground anyhow. The three Cullen men watched as Sora approached the broody looking Cloud.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sora asked, genuinely concerned for the spiky haired man.

"Yeah," Cloud said, his answer devoid of emotion.

"So…" Sora tried to sound nonchalant, but it failed. "Why did you go along with him anyway?"

The blond haired man sighed and blinked at the boy with a frown. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help.

Cloud grimaced and his tone of voice turned bitter. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness and I couldn't find the light…"

"You'll find it!" Sora said confidently. "I'm searching too."

"For your light?" Cloud asked.

Sora nodded with a small smile. Edward looked down at his shoes and closed his eyes. It seemed that Sora and Cloud had something in common with him. Carlisle laid a hand on his son's shoulder and gave it a gentle, fatherly squeeze.

Cloud suddenly began to walk toward them. Just as he passed Sora, he gave some parting words. "Don't lose sight of it."

The blond, spiky haired man finally looked toward them. "I think we can all agree that it is finally time for us to get off of this world..."

Carlisle Cullen nodded with a grimace. "We couldn't agree more."

* * *

**A/N: I'M SOOOOOOOOO SORRY THAT IT TOOK THIS LONG TO UPDATE! I'VE BEEN SO BUSY WITH WORK AND SCHOOL! Please review and tell me what you think! - JMMendiola**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

With a small jolt, Bella awoke. She blinked a few times before she yawned and wiped at her blurry eyes. Turning over on the bed she closed her eyes again and sighed. And then she opened them back up again, startling in panic as the ship began to shake and rock. Bella yelped as it tipped to the side violently and she fell onto her backside off of the bed.

"Holy crow!" she cried out as Rosalie stuck her head into the room, holding onto the door-jam as tightly as she could without braking it. "What the heck is happening?"

"Heartless!" Rosalie snarled, her normally perfect coif was disheveled and she blew a blond strand out of her mouth. "The Pedo is trying to navigate us through them all!"

Bella looked confused as she tried to stand on her two feet. "Sid?"

"Who else do you think I'm talking about? Of course I'm talking about that pervert!"

Falling back onto her back, Bella rolled over onto her hands and knees. She began to crawl toward the door, following the blond haired vampire toward the room that Sid was steering the vessel. He was strapped into a chair, looking like he was ready to launch to the moon.

"You girls alright?" he hoarsely cried out, his knuckles white from the grip he hand on the steering wheel.

He suddenly took a hard turn to the right with a loud shout.

"Son of a BITCH!"

Bella's eyes widened in fright and Rosalie fell onto her left side with a gaping mouth. They all began to scream bloody murder. Not because the girls collided mid air, just before they hit the left wall of the room. Not because the many trinkets and collectables that Sid had arranged over the steering console had suddenly began to pelt them all.

No, it was because of the giant gaping mouth that was coming toward them at an impossible speed.

Sid had tried to avoid the giant gaping mouth that seemed to want to swallow them whole by swerving to the right. Unfortunately, it did not seem that luck was on their side.

Just before everything went pitch black, Rosalie shrieked out as loud as she could.

"IS THAT A FUCKING WHALE?"

Emmett pulled at his earlobe in irritation as they all began to climb out of Cloud's surprisingly small ship. He made a whining sound in the back of his throat.

"What's the matter?" Alice asked, her head tilted to the side.

Emmett wrapped his arm over his sister's shoulders. "I feels like someone yelled in my friggin' ear."

Edward glanced sideways to his father. "You would think he would be used to it from the way Rosalie is always screaming."

The physically larger vampire turned to glare in his brother's direction. Emmett bared his venom coated teeth and snarled playfully.

_ARGH!_

Immediately placing a hand onto his forehead, Edward winced in pain. He glared at the back of brother's head. He almost wished Emmett's hair would catch fire. More than wished, really.

"Was screaming in your mind necessary, you lout?" Edward hissed.

With a crazed, almost maniacally amused grin on his face, Emmett let out a stream of roars and curse words. Edward gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Quit it already!" Edward shouted in annoyance.

Carlisle Cullen placed what he hoped were calming hands on both of his son's shoulders as he gave them both disapproving looks. They both simmered down immediately and turned away from each other.

Cloud hopped down from his Gummy Ship and frowned at them all.

"I seriously hope that this is going to be the only time that you all require a ride from me," Cloud Strife muttered under his breath, knowing full well that they could all hear him perfectly. "I don't think I could take much more of your squabbling kid-pires."

The Cullen family patriarch looked toward his daughter. Alice shook her head with enthusiasm, looking very much like a dashboard bobble head. She and Emmett snickered at Cloud's choice of words.

"Yes," Carlisle answered a warm smile. "We do believe that this will be the only and last time. On behalf of my family I would like to thank you very much for your hospitality, Cloud."

Someone snorted. "Hospitable? Strife? I think I've heard it all now."

They all turned to find a dark haired man approaching them. His face was scarred and blank as he took in the figure that was Cloud Strife. The man reached out a gloved hand and Cloud took it, shaking it firmly before nodding.

"Well," Cloud said with the same blank face. "If it isn't Squall Leonhart. Long time, no see."

The man flinched at the mention of his name and his eyes narrowed as they finally took in the sight of Carlisle, Alice, Edward and Emmett. Wariness and a faint hint of anger were beginning to cloud the man's eyes.

"Actually, it's Leon now," the man replied, taking his eyes away from the Cullens. "Just Leon."

Cloud was the next one to snort. "Whatever, man. _Leon_."

Leon, who once again faced the four Cullens with distrustful eyes, turned to Cloud. "Let me ask you a question, Cloud. Since when did you keep such… _Lively_ company?"

They all tensed at the sound of dislike in his voice. Cloud frowned deeply and glanced sideways at the four Cullens. Emmett grumbled. With a gentle tug at Alice's elbow, he brought his sister close to his side. Edward glared, his honey colored eyes darkening. Carlisle remained quiet, though his eyes were hard as he took in the human man before them.

"I don't think that's any of your damn business, don't you think, _Leon_?" Cloud spat the man's name out, feeling surprisingly defensive on the Cullen's behalf.

"I already have vampires holed up in my safe house, Strife," Leon grumbled, shoving his hands violently into his pockets. "And as far as I'm concerned, you bringing vampires into my territory automatically makes it my business. I don't need anymore trouble to look out for, Strife. I already have enough on my plate with trying to _stave off _the heartless that are trying to invade on this world now."

Cloud paused in their conversation and glanced to the Cullen's. Their golden honey eyes had brightened up enormously at the mention of other vampires on Traverse Town. He was deep in thought for a few seconds as he tried to think up some kind of excuse or explanation that would appeal to the currently prejudiced Leon.

_I think I got me an idea here…_

Edward quirked an eyebrow in amusement and chuckled under his breath. It was too low for a human to catch, but his siblings and father had heard it quite clearly. They were now wondering and wishing that they also had the ability to know what the interestingly mysterious Cloud Strife had on his mind.

A small smirk ghosted on Cloud's lips but it disappeared before Leon could catch it. "As you know, or I hope you know… vampires are formidable fighters. They are very… _convenient _allies to have on our sides. You say you're having trouble with the heartless on this world. Well then, what's a few more vampires, Leon?"

Scratching at his chin, Leon frowned deeply. Edward could hear his grumbling thoughts. He was mulling around the idea of more vampires. And he was slowly relenting.

"Fine," Leon grumbled loudly, angrily. "But if any of your vamps tries to feast on a human in my territory… I'm going to rip them to shreds and make a nice, warm bonfire."

Emmett snorted and whispered. "It's like the La Push dogs all over again, man."

Cloud merely nodded. He then gestured to the four Cullens. They followed after Cloud, who in turn followed Leon. They were being led off of the Gummi Ship docks and into a large and open square. There was a giant '1' emblazoned on the wall.

"So, is it just me or am I the only one who caught that the Leon guy said he had other vamps in his safe house?" Emmett whispered excitedly.

"Of course we did, Emmett," Carlisle said softly, breaking Edward out of his thoughts.

Edward and Carlisle shook their heads. Alice was practically vibrating with happiness.

_My Jazzy is here! My Jazzy is here! I can feel him! Oh, Edward, I can feel my Jasper!_

Edward smiled indulgently at his sister. His smile widened to a full grown grin at the thought of seeing his brother, sister and mother again.

_Bella should be here too, Edward._

He looked down at his sister in hopeful question. Alice tapped at the side of head and grinned. With a little push of his power, Edward gentle invaded his sister's mind. He was immediately given a beautiful, yet astounding view.

Bella and his pigheaded sister, Rosalie! His brown haired love was wrapped in the seemingly motherly arms of Rosalie. Edward's heart soared at the beautiful sight that was Isabella Marie Swan. Her beautiful smile, her beautiful brown hair and eyes. He could honestly and truly say that brown was his favorite color.

Just as quickly as his spirits soared, they came back down in a crash landing. Sparkling tears were beginning to stream down her face as Rosalie hugged her close. He watched as his dislikable sister comforted his mate as best as she could.

Edward looked indignant as Alice abruptly cut off her memory. His small pixie-like sister than turned away from and allowed her love of Jasper to cloud over her mind in order to keep him from her stored memory. Edward growled ever so softly. He wondered when exactly his sister had the vision of Bella and Rosalie. And he also wondered why she never thought to inform him of it.

Taking his growl down to a sneer and then to a frown, he brought his attention else where to get his emotions under control. It was times like these that Edward really did wish that he had his brother Jasper beside him. Alice was quickly indifferent and she returned to her former excitable demeanor.

The patriarch of the Cullen family could not hold back the excited smile on his face as he looked down at his daughter. Carlisle was very much looking forward to the reunion of his whole family, especially his beloved Esme. He patted Alice's spiky-haired head fondly as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Alice stopped and looked offended for one moment.

_What the hell? I'm not a dog, for crying out loud!_

Finally smiling slightly and putting away his questions for later, Edward chuckled. "You resembled a very hyper Chihuahua for a second there."

Alice blew him a raspberry.

"Speaking of Chihuahuas," Emmett suddenly spoke up. "When are we going to hunt again?"

Both Edward and Alice looked to their gorilla sized brother in disbelief and disgust at his words.

"We hunted almost a week ago, son," Carlisle sighed in disbelief.

"Which has been far too long in my book," Emmett muttered in disappointment, patting his stomach.

He could tell by Carlisle's tone of voice that it would be a while yet until they would hunt. Needless to say, Emmett was mildly disappointed. His short sister tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a small smile when he turned.

"Don't worry, Em," she chirped and tapped the side of her head. "I'll tell you when our next hunting trip will be when I get the heads up."

"Thanks, Alice."

They all followed after Cloud and Leon, who led them past and then around a jewelry shop. There was a ledge that led out back to the square and also into the alley. Edward strayed away from his family momentarily and stood at the very edge of the ledge. He looked down into the alley curiously and frowned.

It was dark and dirty. The cobbled stone floor of the alley was uneven and looked slightly damp. It must have rained or drizzled recently, because a puddle was forming from a dripping roof drainage pipe.

"What are you looking at?"

Edward flinched and looked down at his sister in amazement. She bounced on the balls of her feet and looked up at him eagerly.

"Jesus," he breathed out. "I didn't even hear your thoughts when you came up behind me. You scared me half to death, Alice… Forget I said that, please."

Giggling into her fist, Alice composed herself. "Well, it looked as if you were thinking pretty hard. What were you looking at?"

He jutted his chin out to the alley. "Out there. I don't know why, but I get this feeling that this alley should be something important to me."

Alice wrinkled her nose down at the cobbled alley. Her thoughts made him chuckled briefly.

_It looks like the future hobo-central down there…_

She closed her eyes for a few seconds and breathed in an unnecessary breath. Alice shook her head and turned to look at her brother. He sighed. Alice had tried to see with her ability, if there was something special about the alley, but she came up empty handed. Edward took a hold of her wrist and pulled her away from the ledge gently.

"Come on," he said, "We don't want to keep the others waiting. Do we, Carlisle?… Dad?"

They turned to face the two members of their family, Cloud and Leon. They found no one. The large brown door that had a large golden '2' beside it was slightly ajar. Edward and Alice turned to look at each other with wide eyes.

"Uh oh," said Alice.

"Indeed."

It was freezing and she was shivering. Someone was holding her gently. There was tinkling and banging in the background. It was loud to her sensitive ears and she grimaced. Bella blinked and then scrunched her eyes closed against the harsh light that was suddenly shined in her eyes.

"Point that flashlight away from us, buffoon!" Rosalie growled.

The light was taken away and Bella sighed. She relaxed in what she assumed was Rosalie's cold and marble like arms.

"Sorry," she vaguely heard Sid mutter.

Rosalie grumbled under her breath before focusing her attention on Bella.

"Are you okay?" the blonde vampire asked her. "You got knocked out by one of the pedo's little dashboard trinkets."

Bella opened her eyes again and blinked up at Rosalie in the dark. The lights seemed to out and her vision was slightly blurred. She groaned. Bella reached a hand up and felt at her head. There was a tender spot and a steadily growing lump just under her finger tips.

"I'm good," She moaned.

Rosalie helped her into a standing position. Her equilibrium was out of whack and her stomach rolled uncomfortably. Bella wrapped her arms around her middle.

"No, wait," Bella groaned. "Nope…. I was wrong…. I wanna hurl, Rosalie."

The vampire swiftly took her back into her arms, bridal style.

"I'm going to take you to lie down," said Rosalie with sure authority. "Hopefully our cabin isn't trashed."

The blond vampire was able to navigate in the near pitch black darkness. Bella was carried like she was weightless and she expected Rosalie to run them over to the cabin in a flash. Surprisingly, Rosalie did not. She took her time not to jostle Bella around too much, which Bella was actually very thankful for. She was sure if Rosalie had in fact gone at her normal vampire speed, she would have tossed her cookies all over Rosalie's designer ensemble.

Rosalie kicked the door open to their room and sighed. The blankets and pillows were thrown onto the floor, and the chairs were toppled over, but nothing else seemed to be out of order. There really wasn't anything else in the cabin other then the two beds, the chairs and a small table. Luckily, it seemed that the beds and the table was attached to the floor, so they stayed in their places.

"What's the damage look like?" Bella asked weakly. It seemed that she was still trying to get her rolling stomach under control.

"Not that bad at all," Rosalie said quickly. "Compared to the steering cabin, anyway."

Rosalie kicked the toppled chairs out of her way and stepped over the thrown blankets. Setting Bella gently on one of the bed, she grabbed a blanket from the floor. She shook it to dislodge any dirt and then folded it.

"Was that really a whale?" Bella asked, the thought coming to her suddenly.

The brunette turned her head and watched the vampire clean the room at high speed. In under ten seconds the room was back in order. She then crossed her arms over her ample bosom and huffed.

"Yes," Rosalie hissed out in annoyance. "It was a fucking whale. Can you believe it? A _fucking _whale is wandering around in all this empty space between worlds!… I guess you can't call it outer space then… There's no air in outer space and that whale was most certainly alive…."

Bella was wide eyed. "Are you sure?"

"Hell yeah, I'm sure," Rosalie snapped at her, placed a hand on her hip. "That beast was terrifying. It was opening it's mouth, ready to swallow the ship whole or… something."

"_Did _we get swallowed?" Bella paled and her breathing became erratic.

The very thought of being fish food -literally- to a giant whale was absolutely, horrifyingly incredible. So incredible that she thought she might actually toss her cookies. And then pass out immediately after.

"No," Rosalie said quickly, and she sneered. "I hate to say it, but that pedophile has some good reflexes. He was able to swerve us far enough away to avoid it…"

A whirring sound made them freeze in surprise and the lights suddenly came back on. They relaxed when they heard the booming laughter of Sid coming from the steering cabin. Well, Bella relaxed. Rosalie growled.

"Wooooo!" Sid screamed. "The power is back on, baby!"

The blond haired man appeared in the doorway with a victorious grin on his face. His cheeks were flushed with manly pride and smudged heavily with grease. His clothing looked to also be smudged with grease, and torn. He looked extremely disheveled.

Now that the lights were on Bella noticed that he wasn't the only one looking a bit worse for wear. Rosalie, who normally was a perfectly groomed and coiffed vampire, looked to be shaken and messy. Her blond tresses were every which way and tangled. Her clothes were wrinkled and there was a tear in her cashmere sweater. Even her makeup appeared to be smudged.

"Answer me this," Rosalie demanded as she turned her attention to their captain. "Where in the crazy hell did that monstrous whale come from? Last time I checked, this sure as fuck wasn't three thousand leagues under the sea!"

Sid, who for once did not appear to be intimidated or frightened of Rosalie, shrugged. He scratched at his blond, graying head and sighed. He thought for a moment before answering.

"Hells if I know, lady," he said, talking to the floor. "Alls I knows is that the fucker sure as hell was gunning for us. But I don't really think it _was _going for us… If that makes any sense at all."

Rosalie growled. "It doesn't, imbecile. Explain further."

Sid sighed again. "We were surrounded and taking hits from countless heartless right before the whale came out of no where… What I think is that the whale was probably going for the heartless."

There was silence as the girls took the time to process this.

"So it was what?" Bella asked quietly and naively. "Trying to help us?"

Sid shook her head. "Hell no, girl. That whale was going to swallow us whole along with the heartless."

"It was feeding, Bella," Rosalie said dryly.

Bella's cheeks pinked prettily and she ducked her head.

"That's what I think," Sid nodded, agreeing with Rosalie. "The whale was feeding and has been feeding on heartless like they were krill… Once you really think about it, what else would a whale that gigantic feed off of in the middle of all this black space? There sure as hells aren't any shrimp or krill, or whatever the hell a whale frigging eats."

There was silence. Bella was nodding her head in agreement with Sid's explanation. It really did make sense. The sole vampire on the ship looked bored. She was running her hands through her hair, calmly. She was hoping to get some kind of perfectly groomed cooperation from it.

"How many more days is it going to take to get to wherever _you _are going?" Rosalie broke the silence rudely.

"Err," Sid was finally looked scared. "I really don't know. I'm going to have to do a sweep through of the engine to make sure nothing was sprained or damaged. The same is going to have to be done with the inventory I'm supposed to drop off. If everything is hunky dory then it won't take more than a few hours."

Looking satisfied with his answer, Rosalie crossed her arms with a nose in the air. Bella watched her with amusement. Over the last few days that she had gotten to know Rosalie, she could not help but admit that she had grown fond of the high maintenance, blond vampire.

"The first stop we'll make will be to a good friend of mine," Sid said before he exited their cabin. "I'm going to drop off a couple of boxes of supplies and special orders to him. His name is Yen Sid."

Bella and Rosalie shared a glance before they turned to look back at Sid.

"La di _friggin' _da, Captain moronic," Rosalie said smoothly and with a satisfied smirk. "That's exactly where we're headed.

The 2nd District was dark and deserted. The cobbled streets were dirty and barely illuminated by the street lamps. Store fronts were barricaded with boards and burglar bars. Even the small Inn on the other side of the district was deserted. There was no one manning the station behind the counter, where normally a guest would look for the proprietor.

"It's kind of creepy here," Alice whispered out loud and in her thoughts. _Like a ghost town…_

Edward didn't miss the longing glance she gave to a women's clothing store. The style of dresses were peculiar looking on the mannequins, but her look was longing nonetheless. Her golden eyes turned disappointed as she noticed that the women's store was also thoroughly barricaded. He was amused by her thoughts.

_Honestly, I have never worn the same outfit longer than twenty-four hours. I wonder if they would take my visa black card…?_

He caught her eye and shook his head. "Probably not, Alice. These worlds have probably never even heard of a credit card. Everything outside of Earth is just so peculiar."

_Of course everything outside of Earth would be peculiar, Edward._

Alice smiled slightly, but she was still disappointed. The first ever clothing shop she had seen away from earth and she wouldn't even be able to buy anything. She was beginning to dislike Traverse Town. Any town that wouldn't take her visa black card, really.

Edward suddenly turned to his sister. "Why didn't you tell me about the vision you had about Rosalie and Bella?"

Sighing, Alice shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I… thought that maybe it should stay private."

"What do you mean it should stay private?" Edward asked angrily. "Let me just update you, Alice. Anything that involves my girlfriend, is my business!"

She turned around and looked up at Edward with just as much anger. "But that's just it, Edward! She isn't your girlfriend anymore! She isn't your anything! You left her and dragged us all with you!"

Stalking away from her, Edward clenched his teeth and his eyes closed his eyes. His anger drained out of his body and it was rapidly being replaced by sorrow. She was right. He had left her high and dry. He had no right to claim that she was any of his business.

He suddenly felt a presence beside him. Alice reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder. It was half of comfort and the other half in apology.

"I'm sorry for being mean," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled and been so straight forward like that… Even though, yeah, you did need to get pushed off of your high horse."

Edward chuckled and shrugged. "S'alright. Like you said, I needed it."

"Just understand me for a human minute here," Alice chirped demurely. "I only showed you a small part of the vision. No, don't say anything…! The way it played out was very private. It was a bonding moment between Rose and Bella that I don't even feel right seeing. I just wanted to show you that Bella was in fact here with the rest of the family."

Her bronze haired brother nodded.

"Thank you, Alice."

"Your very welcome, Edward."

They immediately went into a comfortable silence. Alice walked alongside Edward once more. They began to once again look around the 2nd district.

The only things that were slightly appealing were the two water fountains and the white bell tower, with it's bright, paned glass doors. As they walked down the stone and brick steps that led down to the two water fountains the siblings instinctively were drawn closer to each other.

Edward and Alice drew closer to the first fountain. He watched as his sister dipped her fingers into the water quickly. She froze and gasped as a vision hit her unexpectedly. Edward closed his eyes as he suddenly found himself submerged into the vision along with her.

***Vision***

_The were just a few steps away from a large door that had a large gold '3' directly beside it. Alice, who was just a few steps ahead of Edward, was the first one to put her hands on the aged wood._

_The moment her cold fingers caressed the wood of the door, two figures appeared behind them. They were both roughly the same in height and they were also both dressed in black hooded robes._

_Edward turned and crouched low to the ground. A snarl was on his lips and he barred his venom tipped teeth at the two people who unexpectedly snuck up on them._

***Vision End***

Alice straightened immediately and rubbed at her temples with a groan. Edward shook his head as if to shake away the remnants of Alice's vision out of his brain.

"Wow," Alice said quietly, still rubbing at her temples. "I think this is what it must feel like to have a headache."

Taking her hand, Edward squeezed it protectively. What he was more concerned about was her vision. It looked as if they would find the way to the next district, but not without running into two individuals dressed completely in black.

Would the individuals do them harm? Edward really had no idea and he was sure that Alice did not know either. He ran his free hand through his hair in worry.

"We must go, Alice," Edward said quietly, his eyes darting everywhere around the district. "Now."

Alice nodded. She too had been thinking about the implications of her vision. But of course, one could never be too sure about her visions. True, they were more times than not, accurate. But the future was always changing, decisions were always changing. Only time could tell.

There were two ways by the second fountain. The last one was connected to the bell tower and it was a dead end. They took the one that turned to the right. Once they did in fact take that right, they came face to face with the door from Alice's vision.

Edward and Alice paused and stared at the door. Alice broke away from Edward's hold. She yanked her hand out of his and walked with determination to it.

"What are you doing?" Edward hissed in exasperation.

Alice frowned. "We have to face our destiny sooner or later, Edward. I know better than anyone that if you hold destiny off longer than necessary, then destiny comes to find you. And frankly, I would rather meet destiny on my own terms."

Her hand reached toward the door and her manicured nails scraped at the wood lightly. Edward was immediately behind her. His back was to her back as he stared back into the shadows that they had just walked through.

"Those were some wise words, kid."

They both tensed. Edward went into a low crouch as two figures emerged from the shadows...

It seemed that Alice's vision was going exactly to plan.

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to update. Long story short, I got my internet disconnected. It's back on now tho, thank goodness! Next chapter there is going to finally be some Esme, Jasper, Charlie, and Leon action! Please read and tell me what you think! Reviews really give me inspiration by the way. ~~ JMMendiola**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Kingdom Hearts.**

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Between patrolling the three different districts of Traverse Town and spending some educational time with both Aerith and Merlin, Charlie had been kept busy. Leon was now just a civil individual to Charlie and the two remaining Cullens. He had graciously outfitted Charlie with weapons and all three of them clothes. To Charlie he had given a set of two short swords, of which Charlie was becoming quite adept with.

In fact, Charlie had dropped a short sword on his big toe (handle down) only once. Which was a feat, Charlie had crowed. He had informed both Jasper and Esme that Bella had not gotten her clumsiness from her mother, but in fact from himself.

When he had inquired about why Jasper and Esme were not given weapons, the two Cullens had decided to give Chief Swan a demonstration. Charlie watched with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as both Jasper and Esme tore apart a pack of eight heartless. They left him one. As it approached him, intent on sucking his heart out, he took up his right sword calmly and decapitated it without even a glance, his eyes still wide at the two Cullens.

"Wow," was all Charlie was able to muster.

He shook his head now as he thought back to it. That had been a few days prior. Just a few hours after Bella and Rosalie had ran off. Charlie frowned as he thought about his daughter and the blond haired Cullen girl. He poked at his food with a frustrated sigh.

There hadn't been a minute gone by that he had not thought about his daughter. He wondered where she was. If she was safe. Was she eating? Was she taking good care of herself? He didn't know. But he was sure glad that the audacious vampire Rosalie Hale was by her side. She at least would make sure that Bella was fine, right?

Unfortunately, that little detail didn't make him any less angry at Bella.

Charlie slammed his fork down on the table in the kitchen. Both Yuffie and Aerith looked at him curiously, startled. Jasper was patrolling around and Esme was in the company of Merlin.

Why? Charlie thought to himself. He wanted all of his questions answered and he wished that Bella was around to answer them all. Why did she run off?

"When I get my hands on that girl," Charlie muttered under his breath. "She had better have a damn good reason."

"Thinking about Bella?" Yuffie asked with a tilted head.

Charlie grunted before nodding and the height challenged, self proclaimed great ninja smiled.

"Don't worry, Charlie," Aerith said in her serene, breathy voice. "You'll see Bella again. And then you can ground her for the rest of her life."

Yuffie chuckled with Aerith. Charlie was able to muster up a small smile and he nodded his thanks. He could always count on any of the individuals in the safe house to cheer him up. Especially Jasper with his unique gift. And okay, maybe not Leon.

"Alright," Charlie muttered to himself. "I think I should head out and lend a hand to Jasper."

He stood from his seat and took his plate to the sink. After setting it down gently into the sink, Charlie said his farewells to Aerith and Yuffie. They both waved at him as he moved out of the kitchen and to the living room of the safe house. Just as he set a hand on the door knob a gloved hand clapped onto his shoulder. Charlie turned quickly with raised eyebrows.

"You got a moment, Charlie?" Leon inquired with a blank face.

Charlie shrugged before nodding.

"A friend of mine is coming into town from off world," Leon explained with a sigh.

The mustachioed man blinked, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "I didn't even know you had other friends, Leon. Other than Yuffie, Aerith and Merlin."

Leon frowned. "He's more of an acquaintance, really. He's more of a friend to Aerith. I'm going to go meet him at the docks right now."

The young man shook his head. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this, it's beside the point. What I'm trying to ask is for you to keep an extra eye out while your out with Hale. The old wizard and I both have confirmed sightings of cloaked men wandering around Traverse."

"Who are they?"

"That's the thing," Leon said dryly. "We don't know. Usually Merlin and I are well aware of who comes to port in order to protect this town from danger, but from what we've seen and confirmed from eyewitnesses…. These cloaked men or women did not come by Gummi Ship. They disappeared from sight into a black portal of sorts."

"Are they heartless?" Charlie asked. He stood straighter and allowed his training from the police force to take over. "Are they dangerous? Armed?"

Leon scratched his head and frowned. "No and yes. And shit, yes.. They most certainly are _not _heartless. Heartless don't retain their physical human bodies when their hearts are taken. But they are dangerous, that's for sure. And sure as hell armed."

Charlie leaned up against the wall and nodded. "So proceed with caution is what you're saying."

Nodded, Leon crossed his arms and his face suddenly turned angry. "Exactly. I tried to go talk to one of them and the next thing I know the guy is flinging a fire chakra at my ass."

Leon stalked out of the safe house abruptly, still angry. He hadn't waited for any response from Charlie. Charlie chuckled and followed him out. He watched as Leon walked away into the night and he chuckled some more. In Charlie's opinion, it was about time someone tried to knock Leon down on a peg or two. That young man was just too self-righteous for his own good.

There was nothing like a good cold can of whoop-ass to knock some sense into a person.

* * *

"You little bastard," Jasper growled as he reached for the flying heartless.

With the other hand, he grabbed a hold of the heatless' head and snapped it completely off in quick succession. The little monster gave no indication of pain or alarm, although it did give out a little squeak. He looked around the alley in satisfaction and he allowed a casual sideways smirk to adorn his pale face.

The alley, which was directly behind the 2nd District Inn, was finally devoid of heartless. There was no hide nor hair of a heartless anywhere in his immediate line of sight. For now anyways. Those little bastards always found a way to come back. Jasper actually didn't mind. All the time that it took to exterminate the heartless was helping him take his mind off of his missing family members.

And as of a couple of days ago his sister Rosalie was considered among the missing. But unlike his other family members it had been entirely her own decision to disappear off of the world known as Traverse Town. And Bella's, as well.

He still had the letter that Rosalie had written. It was in the back pocket of the dark wash jeans that Leon let him borrow. Apparently he and Charlie also shared the same size in clothes with the broody man.

The letter had been sent along with a moogle. A moogle, Jasper found out, was a little creature with the ability to float. They had the uncanny ability to concoct certain aids; such as battle aids, potions, ethers and so on. And on top of that, they looked just so darn cute and cuddly.

Esme's words, not his. But he sure couldn't help being completely submersed in Esme's lovey-dovey emotions when she had first caught sight of a moogle.

The next moment he knew, Jasper had thrown himself into Esme's motherly embrace. He had a satisfied smile on his face as he leaned his head on her shoulder, Esme then directing her coos on him. Of course, once the letter was delivered and read…. All the lovely fuzzy feelings just went down the drain.

And then he quickly extricated himself from his mother's embrace. As manly as he could, of course. And he was also relieved that Emmett was not there to witness any of it.

With a quick and gentle hand, Jasper withdrew the letter from his back pocket. It was crinkled and dirty in some place. Not to forget that the creases from the constant folding and unfolding of the paper were an indication that it was well read.

_**I'm going to tag along with Bella. She had some kind of thing to do off world. Supposedly.**_

_**Don't worry. I'll keep a sharp eye on the klutz. Take care of Esme and Charlie, Jasper. And keep an eye out for Emmet, Carlisle, Alice and that penny-haired son of a bitch. We'll see you guys when we see you.**_

_**Rose**_

Sighing, Jasper kicked a small pebble with his foot. Aided by his vampiric strength the little pebble shot off into the darkness with the speed of a bullet.

"Jesus!"

Jasper watched as a startled Charlie Swan stumbled out of the shadows. The man in his late thirties clutched a hand to his bleeding left forearm. Charlie was cursing loudly as he approached Jasper.

"Watch what your doing next time!" Charlie said loudly. "You nearly took my eye out! Look!"

Charlie took his hand off of the wound caused by the pebble that Jasper had kicked. It was a bleeding graze, though it looked like it was slowly down from the pressure that Charlie had applied.

Taking a step back and averting his eyes, Jasper swallowed a gulp of venom at the sight of Charlie's warm and glistening blood. He took a breath and thanked goodness that the scent was no longer tempting.

Even though his throat seemed to no longer burn that didn't mean that he still wasn't tempted. The sight of blood still made him uneasy.

Not to forget that he hadn't eaten in a while… Okay, so technically it had only been a few days. Jasper had certainly gone days, hell he had gone _weeks _without feeding before he began to feel twitchy with the need to attack the closest human for sustenance. But with the absence of more than half of his family, including his mate, Jasper's anxiety was recently tying in with his thirst. And it was taking a toll on him.

Jasper glanced at Charlie's wound briefly before he turned away and forced a chuckle. "It's no where near your eye, Charlie."

Whipping a handkerchief out of his pocket, Charlie wrapped it around his wound. He used his teeth to tie it tightly.

"I was scratching my head at the time, Jazz."

"My bad, man," Jasper drawled, his Texas accent peaking out for a second.

Charlie suddenly shrugged and took the moment to look around the alley. "Eh, it's okay, I guess. I've certainly had worse scrapes. Hey, have you seen anyone or thing suspicious around lately?"

"Apart from the heartless," said Jasper with a wave of his hand. "I haven't seen a single suspicious thing. Or any people either."

They both began walking toward the front of the Inn. There was a wall of boxes that blocked their way, but with a few lugging and pushing they made it through. They both made sure to push them back tot heir previous places.

As they walked toward the door that lead to the 3rd District, Charlie clapped a hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Leon said something interesting a while ago."

Jasper smirked. "When does he not say something interesting?"

His mustache twitched, but Charlie held in his chuckle. "Actually, this was something much more important than a 'fuck off' from him. He told me that the locals had seen some suspicious looking men running around town."

"Really?" Jasper asked with raised eyebrows.

Charlie nodded. "They are armed and dangerous. Or so he tells me. Oh, and they supposedly travel through these black portal things."

The blond vampire sucked in an unnecessary breath and his eyes hardened. Jasper was remembering the black gooey portal that had sucked him and the rest of his family into it's depths.

"Black portals? Are they related to the heartless?"

"Supposedly no," Charlie answered as he gave the 2nd District square a quick look about. "But really, I don't know."

As they were walking down the brick steps that led to the two fountains, Jasper stiffened. Charlie continued to walk forward unknowingly. The human man stopped in surprise at the bottom of the steps with a sigh. He had finally noticed that his vampire companion was no longer beside him and he looked back up the steps.

"What?" Charlie asked as he witness the strange look on Jasper's face.

"Do you smell that?" Jasper asked quickly, breathing in deeply.

Eyes widening, Charlie shook his head. "Hey. It wasn't me. What's that teen saying? Whoever smelt it, dealt it."

Jasper rolled his eyes vehemently and resisted the urge to growl at Bella's father. He breathed in deeply again and closed his eyes.

There were six different scents in the air. All of them were familiar, except for one. He could most definitely pick out Leon. After spending so much time with the man patrolling the districts, Jasper was now much too familiar with the man's scent to be comfortable.

One of the scents, he was most certainly not familiar with. It was a man, most definitely. Jasper took another whiff to get himself reacquainted with the four other scents. And he gasped loudly.

"Oh, God!" Jasper cried out loudly.

Charlie, who was beginning to look startled, looked at him weirdly. "What?"

A huge grin spread out over Jasper's face and he laughed loudly.

"It's them!" he said joyfully. "They're here!"

"Who?" Charlie asked, looked utterly bewildered as he glanced left and right. "Who's here!"

Jasper's grin was joyous and filled with adoration.

"Alice," he said adoringly. "Alice, and my Father."

Charlie watched as Jasper took another deep breath. His vampire companion was enjoying the lovely scent that was Alice, his petite wife. A contagious grin appeared on Charlie's face and the mustachioed man clapped a hand onto Jasper's shoulder.

"That's great!" Charlie crowed.

"I think I can track them from this position," Jasper said with his everlasting grin. "It's a very fresh scent."

"That's fantastic!"

Jasper nodded, but then his grin suddenly disappeared with his next intake of unnecessary breath.

"Oh… They're here, too."

Once again, Charlie was completely confused. Though this time his confusion was stained with annoyance. Jasper flinched at the human man's strong emotions.

"What?" Charlie asked. "Who else is here, now?"

"Emmett," Jasper grimaced at the thought of his muscled brother. It was not exactly the thought of his brother, but the thought of explaining to Emmett where his wife's whereabouts were.

Charlie, who seemed to have caught on without any help from the blond vampire, mirrored his expression. Jasper's face suddenly fell into sadness. His brother Emmett was a spontaneous man-pire who was ruled by his emotions. There was no telling how the burly Emmett would react at the news.

"Well," Charlie muttered under his breath. "At least it's not your other… _brother_."

Having froze at Charlie's mutterings, Jasper blanched. If it was possible, and it seemed that it was, he was even much more pale than before. Unfortunately for Jasper, Bella had inherited her observational skills from her father and Charlie had been watching him closely.

"Please tell me he isn't here," the former Forks police chief begged, a dark look on his face.

Charlie rubbed his face with both of his hands. He looked haggard as he stared at Jasper at the top of the steps. Jasper walked down slowly, trying as hard as he could not to expose the truth via his gift.

"I'm going to kill him, Jasper," Charlie said quietly, his expression once again dark. "You realize that, don't you? I'm going to kill your brother."

Jasper sighed and he closed his eyes. He wrinkled his nose at Charlie's ridiculous notion of killing Edward. They were vampires after all, and Charlie was only a mere mortal. He held back a snort at the thought of Charlie trying to throttle a perfectly fine and barely fazed Edward.

"Is he here, Jasper?"

Jasper nodded curtly. "Eh, yeah. He's here, Charlie."

He finally opened his eyes at the sound of Charlie gnashing and gritting his teeth in anger. Jasper did his best to push some calmness onto the man without being found out.

"Find him!" Charlie suddenly barked out, the police chief appearing. "Do your vampire do-hickey shit and find him!"

Taking another gulp full of air, Jasper narrowed in on the wonderful scent that belonged to his Alice. At human pace he began to follow the trail. They seemed to be leading to the 3rd District entrance door and Jasper hoped that he had caught the scent soon enough that they had not gone through.

He just couldn't wait for the moment that he would be able to hold his wife again. And to kiss her and feel her soft skin on his. Jasper knew that it only been maybe half a week, but it certainly felt like a lifetime. The traumatic circumstances had made the separation all the worse.

As Jasper neared the dark alley way that lead to the door that was the entrance way to the 3rd District, he stopped in his tracks. A new smell was beginning to override his senses. It was the scent of smoke and oddly, it was also the smell of… nothing.

This smell of absolute nothingness baffled Jasper. Everything had a smell! Even water had a distinct smell! How could there ever be a smell of absolute nothing?

Jasper stopped before stepping into the dark alley way and peered into it's depths with narrowed eyes. He felt the soft stumbled of the human man behind him. Charlie, who had been caught off guard by Jasper's abrupt stop had bumped into him.

"Why did you stop?" snapped Charlie.

The vampire snapped his teeth at the human. Charlie was startled not only by the sound of the sharp teeth snapping together, but at the look of Jasper's face. It was an intimidating predator look. It was the look that a lion took when it was watching it's prey from it's hiding place in the overgrown grass.

Jasper's eyes, which had previously been a dark golden color, were now black and dilated to their maximum extent.

Charlie remembered back to when he had first found out about the Cullens being vampires. Jasper had been the one to explain all the interesting details to him. Everything from how strong they were to what kind of blood they drank. Animal blood, Charlie was relieved to find out.

What had presently surprised Charlie was when Jasper had decided to share his and Alice's history with him. Jasper had made sure that Charlie knew his history in the southern vampire wars. And it was from that long conversation that Charlie knew that the Jasper he knew was no longer in his presence.

Nope. The Major had come to the forefront.

"What do you see with your human eyes, Chief?" the Major asked him, his voice deep and gravely.

Charlie took a deep breath and looked into the alley that lead to the 3rd District door. All he saw was complete darkness.

"Nothing," Charlie answered. "I don't see a damn thing. It's dark."

"Yes," the Major growled. "That is what I also see. Which is peculiar, Chief, because with my superior eye sight I should be able to see the brick and wood of the walls clearly. But I don't. All I see is unnatural darkness."

Jasper made a jerking gesture with his hand that looked oddly military. Charlie took it as a signal to stay. And he wasn't about to protest… But then again, Charlie wasn't about to leave his friend's side either. If shit went down Charlie would feel better watching Jasper's back. He watched as Jasper slowly walked into the dark alley and he followed closely after him.

With a hand, Jasper felt for the walls. He was met with the reassuring wood of the right alleyway wall. His teeth were bared as he walked at human pace into the alley. Jasper was pretty sure that he was nearing the bend of the alley that would take him to the right and then right to the 3rd District door, but at the sound of hurried footsteps he stopped.

Charlie was directly behind him, annoyingly so, but it had not been his footsteps. No, these footsteps were further down the alley and nearer to the 3rd District door. He decided to utilize his superior hearing.

"What are you doing?" he heard a male's voice hiss out in exasperation.

It was a familiar voice, but with the hiss Jasper was unable to identify it. The next voice that spoke up was much more familiar. It was so familiar that Jasper grinned suddenly at the sound of it.

"We have to face our destiny sooner or later, Edward," he heard his Alice say loud and clear. Well, at least to his vampire hearing. "I know better than anyone that if you hold off destiny longer than necessary, then destiny comes to find you. And frankly, I would rather meet destiny on my own terms."

It was his love! His mate! And, it was also Edward. Jasper was also happy to know that his brother was also alright.

Before he could even bound forward and turn the corner that was just a little ways away from them, another voice spoke up. A voice that did not belong to his wife or brother.

"Those were some wise words."

Jasper froze and then shrunk down into a crouch. He bared his teeth as he watched two black cloaked individuals walk out of the unnatural shadows. Charlie sucked in a breath as he too watched.

"I might just memorize them."

When the man was shy of ten feet from Edward and Alice, he stopped. The other person, who was wearing a similar black robe and hood stayed behind, just barely visible in the shadows. This person struck a very bored pose. Jasper could here the bore individual muttering under his breath with a whine.

"Aw, man," the bored sounding man muttered. "I just want to go home already and fiddle with my sitar. I don't want to do this now."

Jasper sucked in a breath as he tried to get some kind of emotional signal on the two men. Alarmingly, he felt nothing. The blond haired vampire began to worry. Was he losing his power? No, he could feel Charlie, Edward and Alice. But then why couldn't he feel the emotions of these two?

"Lookie what we got here, Demyx," the one that was closer to Edward and Alice spoke up. "We have ourselves some vampires. You know, I've been itchin' for a fight lately and I've never taken out vampires before."

They all tensed at the man's words. Edward and Jasper growled simultaneously. The two unknown individuals, including Edward and Alice backed up as they turned at the sound of Jasper.

"Then why don't you fight me instead," Jasper growled even louder as he stepped out of the shadows to approach the two emotionless men.

Edward and Alice gasped in delight at the sight of Jasper and then Charlie, who walked out right behind him. Before she could spring forward to her husband, Edward's arms wrapped around Alice's waist.

"What are you doing?" Edward hissed in his sister's ear. "I'm happy to see them too, but I can't just let you walk between these two unprotected. You could get hurt!"

The one of the two who was looking for an alley brawl threw his head back and hooted loudly. He slapped a hand onto his thigh in what appeared to be excitement and amusement. Jasper gritted his teeth. He still couldn't feel any emotion from them. The seemingly unenthusiastic of the two, apparently named Demyx sucked in a breath at the new development.

"Aw man," Demyx groaned and began to talk to himself under his breath. "There's too many of them now… Erg, I'm going to have to fight now. I told them I'm not cut out for the fighting. This isn't my kind of thing."

The excited one laughed again before he stretched his two arms away from him. In a startling, and impressively unreal explosion of fire, two silver and bright red chakras appeared in his hands. It was like nothing any of them had ever seen before. Except maybe in video games or movies. He twirled them around and then another laugh erupted from his mouth.

Growling under his breath, Jasper furrowed his brow in frustration. Even though he couldn't feel their emotions, the way they both acted was so over dramatic and almost felt - fake.

"Are you ready for me then, Blondie?" the chakra wielding man asked with amusement and taunt dripping from his voice.

At the initial sight of the fire chakras, the four took a step back. Charlie, Jasper, Edward and Alice. Recognition came to Charlie as the conversation with Leon at the safe house replayed.

"It's him," Charlie hissed to Jasper. "This is the guy who Leon got in a fight with and apparently almost got one of those fire thingies shoved in his ass."

Jasper gave no signal that he had heard the human man behind him, but he had indeed. And he was more than worried. The demonstration that this weird man in a black clothing had most certainly intimidated him. Not only that but with the added strike of not being able to decipher their emotions was sinking his confidence.

This man apparently gave off no emotions.

He could also wield flying chakras of fire.

Fire.

The one substance that could obliterate a vampire into mere ashes. This had not failed to register in the minds of the three vampires. Alice especially, as she watched with wide eyes and a trembling lower lip.

"I said, are you ready for me?" the fire wielder asked Jasper once again. "I'm not going to ask anymore."

Jasper gave the man a fast and jerky nod, but then he froze as Demyx took an unexpected step backwards into the shadows, disappearing altogether.

"Sorry, Axel," Demyx said to the man, sounding over apologetic, though still not giving off the tell tale emotion. "But I'm going to have to bail. I'm going back to Oblivion, man."

Axel turned and made a whining noise. "Hey!"

Just as soon as Axel turned, Jasper heard a rustle of movement from behind him. Then he heard a 'whoosh' of air and watched as a half blade spun past his head. Charlie's blade, Jasper realized at the last moment.

Just as Axel turned back the blade sliced into the flesh of his upper arm. Jasper grinned viciously and he turned to give Charlie an approving and grateful glance.

Axel gave out an exclamation of shock and he covered his wound with a black gloved hand. The same way his chakras had appeared, they disappeared and his hood fell as he grumbled angrily.

His hair was red, spiky, but long. It fell just below his shoulders. His eyes were green and there were red tattoos under his angry eyes.

"Since my… associate decided to runoff on me and leave to an uneven fight," Axel said loudly. "I'm going to have reschedule this little pow-wow."

With a hand over his wound Axel began to walk backward into the shadows his eyes glancing to all four of them. When they met the topaz eyes of Jasper, the vampire growled and contained his surprise.

His green eyes, though bright and a lovely shade, were totally empty of any kind of emotion.

"You all better watch yourselves," Axel grinned. "You never know when my pretty face just might pop back up for a visit. Got that memorized?"

With another step back, he was gone and with him, the shadows. The unnatural darkness receded and the soft light of the coming from a lamp post finally illuminated the brick and cobble stone of the alley. They all stood as still as statues for a moment before Charlie took a much need breath. And just like that, the feeling of danger was gone.

Edward immediately let go of the grip he had on his sister. Alice streaked forward until she was a mere five feet away from her love. Jasper watched as her lower lip quivered and her eyes filled with venom tears that would never fall.

Jasper took a step forward and closed the gap, their chests just inches from one another as he brought a hand up to her chin. With his thumb, he caressed her quivering lower lip.

"These days apart have been torture, my love," he murmured, his voice deep with emotion as he soaked up hers with his power.

Alice suddenly threw herself into his arms with a sob. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs went around his waist as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing her little heart out.

"There now, darlin'," he murmured into her ears, kissing every part of her head and face he could reach. "I'm here now. We're together again. I love you, Alice."

Her sobs grew louder. "I-I love y-you, Jasp-per. So m-much."

Jasper looked up and sought out the gaze of his brother. Edward walked toward them at human pace with a smile, his eyes suspiciously bright. With one arm holding Alice as close as he could have her to him, Jasper used his arm to beckon his brother forward.

With little Alice between them, Jasper and Edward shared a manly 'bro hug'.

"It's good to see you, brother," Jasper grinned, setting his chin atop his wife's head.

Edward returned his brother's grin and he opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it grimly. His eyes locked with something over Jasper's shoulder and Jasper turned curiously before he swore under his breath.

Charlie stood behind him, his eyes blazing with anger. Jasper could feel in undulating from the man. It looked to Jasper like the human man couldn't decide what to do. Would Charlie outright attack Edward? Or would he try to talk to his brother beforehand?

The instant and instinctive urge to calm Charlie with his power came to his mind, but he beat it down. There was no doubt in his very being that whatever the Chief had in mind, his brother thoroughly deserved it.

Edward gave him a quick glare, before he turned back to Charlie.

He looked quickly between the chief of Forks and his mind reading brother, Edward. With his arms still wrapped around his wife, who was still clinging to him like a baby koala, Jasper began to walk to the 3rd District door.

"I'll just be leaving you two gents to talk amongst yourselves, then," Jasper spoke up.

In all honesty, Jasper was fighting the instinct to stay, support and possibly defend his younger brother. Even though that he knew realistically that Edward would be able to defend himself thoroughly against Bella's protective and furious father. But he also knew that it was going to be a private moment that he had no business in intruding on.

Alice lifted her pretty little head from his chest and tipped it back as they passed through the 3rd District Door. She kissed his chin tenderly, her eyes half-lidded.

"They'll be fine," she assured him with her tinkling voice. "They just need to have a long … err, loud talk."

Jasper nodded, his eyes darkening at the feel of her soft lips on his skin. He swooped down and attacked her soft mouth with his own. Alice purred in his mouth and sighed once they withdrew from each other, her bottom lip still between Jasper's.

"I'm going to take you to the safe house now," Jasper whispered against her lips, not wanting to ever part from her. "Esme is there, along with a few decent others. New friends."

Smiling Alice nodded, before her eyes glazed over. He frowned at her glassy eyed stare before it completely disappeared and was replaced with adoration for him.

"Carlisle and Emmett are there, also," grinned Alice, happily. "Our friend, his name is Cloud Strife, brought us to this world from another. He is friends with a man named Leon, and Leon has lead them to the safe house. We should hurry!"

Jasper grinned at the prospect of finally reuniting with the rest of his family. With a jerk of his chin he pointed out a large house just fifteen feet away from them.

"We're already there, my darlin'."

As soon as they were in the doorway of the safe house, Alice was grabbed out of his arms. Esme held Alice tightly in her grasp, stroking her spiky hair. Both of them sobbed, clutching tightly to each other.

"Oh, Alice," Esme sobbed tearlessly, "Oh, my girl, I'm so happy to have you all back."

Behind them, Carlisle watched them with a smile on his face. Jasper watched as the Cullen family patriarch approached him. He automatically stood up straighter and held his head up high, it was as if he were about to be evaluated by a commander in the armed forces.

"Jasper," Carlisle said softly, laying a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm very proud of you, son. You did a wonderful job looking after your mother. Including Bella and your sister, even though they are unfortunately not among us at the moment."

He could feel the pride radiating off of his father figure, but Jasper couldn't help but let his own disappointment in himself over shadow it when he caught a glimpse of his burly younger brother. Emmett sat on the living room couch, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Jasper was suddenly brought back to attention when Carlisle took hold of his chin.

"I'll have none of your guilt or sadness, young man," Carlisle said sternly to him, looking his dead straight in the eye. "I will start off by saying to you, that it was not your fault -"

"I could have stopped them," Jasper butted in loudly, his face breaking from his normally calm façade to one of internal despair. "I could have gone after Bella first and brought her back, but the sun was out and I feared exposure, but Rosalie… She didn't care. She was thinking about Bella and she went off after her, while I waited for the sun to go down…"

Emmett was suddenly on his feet. In a flash he was nose to nose with Jasper, his teeth bared and his eyes dark from anger.

"So, in other words, you were being a pussy," Emmett growled, ignoring Esme gasp at his language. "You let my wife run off after Edward's mate, because you were too chicken shit to get sparkly in front of the natives?"

Jasper growled, unable to stave off the anger that was now consuming him from Emmett. "I was worried about our exposure, Emmett! Even if we are on another planet vampires are of the unknown to many of Traverse Town's inhabitants. If we had been exposed we probably would have been fed to the Heartless! Rosalie wasn't thinking it through when she went off after Bella like that."

Growling even louder, venom dripping down his chin, Emmet made to make a move. But before they could come to blows, the family patriarch was between them in an instant. Carlisle had one hand on Jasper's shoulder and the other on Emmett's, keeping them away with as much strength as he could muster up without hurting either one of them.

"That is enough," Carlisle said sternly to them. "I think we should all just calm down before we say things that we say or do things we will regret."

Esme nodded and looked approvingly toward her husband. "Your father is right, boys. We should all just sit down and talk this - Emmett wait!"

With a flash Emmett was out of the safe house. They all stared out the gaping door for a moment before Carlisle broke the silence with an unneeded sigh. He raked a hand through his blond hair before he spoke.

"I'm going to have to go find him…"

"No," Jasper objected immediately. "I'll do it."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow at his blond son. "I really don't believe that would be a bright idea, son."

"It's okay," Alice suddenly spoke up for the first time. She was still in her mother's arms as she smile. "It'll be alright if Jasper goes."

Jasper was out of the safe house in a flash. Alice smiled as both Carlisle and Esme both gave her inquisitive looks.

"Are you positive?" Carlisle asked, sounding just a tad bit worried. "I don't think I'll fancy walking outside of this house to find half the town in ruins because of their fighting, my dear."

Shaking her head, Alice smiled again. "No, nothing like that will happen, Dad. They just need a brother to brother talk."

* * *

"I'll just be leaving you two gents to talk amongst yourselves, then," Jasper said before he went through the door that had the large golden '3' beside it.

Edward still had his eyes trained on Charlie, Bella's father. He couldn't help the flinch as Charlie had made the sudden move. Surprisingly, Edward had not picked upped any of the man's thoughts, only images. And he flinched again as he realized that they were all of Bella.

He watched as Charlie walked over to where the strangers had been and picked up the blade he had thrown.

"Err, that was a nice throw," Edward spoke up with a hesitant and nervous smile. "You really saved our asses there."

Charlie looked at him again and Edward diverted his gaze. It was the wrong thing to do. The bronze haired vampire heard a familiar 'whoosh' and he looked up in time to see the exact same blade flying for his face. With a gasp he ducked just in time. He then turned in time to see the blade lodge itself in the wood of the door behind him.

"Are you crazy, Charlie?" Edward burst out, looking at the former police officer incredulously.

The older looked man suddenly began to chuckle, a strange glint in his eyes. Edward watched the man with wide eyes as he slowly began to walk toward him. All the while, he was also delving into the depths of the man's thoughts, trying to get some kind of semblance of rationality if Charlie was going to do what Edward thought he was about to do.

He had to try to talk him out of it. He raised his hands up in surrender.

"Charlie? Err, I think you should keep a safe distance from me… Just to be safe."

Charlie suddenly stopped and stared at him. "You really don't know what this is all about, do you? You're honestly unaware?"

Edward nodded slowly. "I really am confused as to what I did to provoke your anger, Charlie. To my knowledge I did nothing to you in the past."

"You really are dense for a vampire, aren't you?" Charlie blurted out in disgust.

Edward tensed. "You know what I am?"

"Yeah, kid. It was explained to me on the first day I came to this world," Charlie informed him loudly. "Now answer me this. Why did you do what you did?"

Looking puzzled once again, Edward was suddenly assaulted with the memory of his love once again. Bella was sitting on a couch beside Esme. She was talking to them all about what had transpired in forest between herself and him. Edward bit his lip and looked torn.

"Do you mean," Edward spoke quietly. "Why did I hurt Bella the way I did?"

Charlie nodded.

"You know what I am, Charlie. What my entire family is. We're monsters, Charlie. I couldn't let Bella continue to endanger herself in our midst. I had to let her go and I knew that she would never do so willingly… So I had to push her away in the harshest way I could to ensure that she would in fact let us go."

Bringing his topaz gaze up to Charlie's, Edward watched Bella's father watch him. Charlie snorted and looked at him bewildered.

"That's the best excuse that you could come up with?" Charlie angrily asked. "That you're a monster?"

"I'm a vampire, Charlie! We drink blood!"

"Animal blood! You drink animal blood!"

"That does not mean that we're not tempted by human blood on a daily basis, Charlie!" Edward argued. "Did Bella tell you nothing more than our break up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Her birthday, Charlie. Something happened on her birthday."

Charlie narrowed his eyes.

"While Bella was opening a present, she got a paper cut. Jasper, who has not been living our vegetarian lifestyle as long as the rest of the individuals in our family, lunged at her."

Charlie was looked speechless, but he somehow found his voice. "Jasper? No, I-I've been around him this whole time and he's never gave me any intention that he wanted to err… suck my blood."

"No," Edward shook his head. He felt guilty for ratting out his brother like so, but he also knew that Charlie had the right to know what had transpired on that day. "He doesn't want to feed from you. From any human. It's just our natural instinct, Charlie. I hope you don't think badly of Jasper or treat him any differently because of what I've told you."

"Of course not. I think the world of Jasper. Of all you kids."

"Then you do know that I am older than you, right Charlie?" Edward chuckled. "I'm not a kid, as you put it."

Charlie scoffed. "You and your brother and sisters will always be kids to me. As long as you keep on looking so young, which coincidently, will be forever."

Gulping at the piercing gaze of Charlie Swan, Edward nodded. He was not all bothered by that. After so many decades of posing as a teenager, moving to different towns and attending high school from sophomore year to senior year, he was actually used to being acknowledged as such.

"Are you going to give me a proper explanation, yet?" Charlie asked with a frown on his face.

Edward sighed vehemently and just as he was about to open his mouth and explain to Charlie, the door behind him opened. Emmett barged out of the door and ran straight into him with a thunderous bang. They both fell to the ground in a heap as the door opened once again. Jasper came from the door next. He tripped over their feet and fell on top of them with a yelp. Charlie fell to his knees and wheezed with laughter, clutching his side.

"AAHAAAHAAA!"

"Emmett, get the hell off me, you buffoon!"

"Dude, my balls!"

Jasper sprang to his feet and helped his brothers up one by one.

"What the hell were ya'll doing on the floor?"

"Edward was in the way of the damn door," Emmett grumbled, holding his balls tenderly. "What the hell were you doing in front of the door anyway, Ed?"

"I was having a conversation with Charlie," Edward growled. "And don't call me Ed."

Charlie, who finally caught his breath looked at both Jasper and Emmett. "Why the heck were you two flying out of that door like bats out of hell?"

Emmet looked away, while Jasper looked toward him.

"I'm sorry, Emmett," Jasper said quietly. "I'm apologizing for what I said."

Shaking his head, Emmett finally looked at him. "Naw man. I should apologize. I shouldn't have tried to stick the blame on you. It's not your fault that my Rosie and Bella are gone."

Edward looked sympathetically at Emmett and then looked toward his blond brother. "Emmett is right for once, Jasper. It's not your fault that both Rosalie and Bella are - Wait, WHAT? They're GONE!"

Jasper sighed and rolled his eyes at Charlie.

"Here we go again," he said.

* * *

**A/N: Again, I am without internet. Please review! - JMMendiola**


	10. Chapter 10

**This Chapter is dedicated to Bananahsplit!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

The smell of wild flowers was in the air and Bella was on her knees in the middle of the meadow. Their meadow. Hers and Edward's. Bella smiled slightly as she thought of him. She could actually think without her heart aching. She wondered if Rosalie's support and constant presence had anything to do with it.

"Bella."

She looked up and gasped. Walking toward her, shirtless in the blazing sun was Edward. He smiled sadly at her as his skin glittered and dazzled her from just a few feet away. He stopped in front of her and then frowned down at her.

"What are you doing, Bella?" Edward asked her, sounding disappointed somehow. "You promised me."

Bella stood and looked at him in confusion. "What are talking about? What did I promise you, Edward?"

Edward shook his head and his penny colored hair was rustled by the wind. He turned and began to walk away from her. Bella called out to him.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

He stopped and then turned back around to look at her with pained eyes. Bella ran to him, she reached out to touch his hand, but he pulled away from her before she could actually do so. She stepped back from him, hurt at his movement.

"Bella," he whispered, his pained eyes once again trained on her face. "You promised me that you wouldn't do anything dangerous…"

She but her lip. "I'm sorry. But I have to do this. I don't know why, but in my heart I know I have to."

"I'm not going to be able to protect you this time, love," he smiled sadly. "I think that will be what I will regret the most. Because where your journey is taking you…"

He sighed regretfully. Edward ran a hand through his bronze hair and looked at her desperately.

"Where you're going Bella.. I can't follow; no matter how much I want to."

Edward turned and he began to walk away from her again. Bella called out to him and again he stopped to look at her. Before she could speak to him again, he lifted his hand and pointed at something behind her.

"She's waiting for you, Bella."

She looked at him confused before she turned to look at where he pointed. Standing in the middle of the meadow was a woman. She was dressed in a traditional lavender and pea green sari. Her hair was loose and long. Tall and willowy, she had to be at least close to five foot nine inches. Chocolate brown eyes were the only feature that Bella could see of the woman's face for it was partially covered by her sari.

Bella turned to Edward to ask who this woman was, but he was gone. She turned back to the woman and then gasped, startled. Instead of being in the middle of the meadow, the woman was now in front of her.

"He's right, that boy of your's," the woman spoke from behind her sari in a familiar voice.

Bella shook her head sadly, once again feeling the pain in her heart. "He's not mine anymore. He didn't want me."

The woman laughed, her voice very familiar now. "Oh, I believe in the future that you will find that to be quite the opposite, Isabella."

"H-how do you know my name?" Bella asked the woman, startled.

"You don't know me?" the woman asked, a smile in her voice. "I suppose you wouldn't remember me, seeing as you've never seen my face… But I was hoping my voice would jog your memory. I have been speaking to you in your mind for the last week."

Bella gasped and then grinned. "It's you, err… What do I call you, anyhow?"

"Just call me Nia, Isabella," the woman laughed again. "And you know, your boy _was _right. Where you are about to embark, he cannot follow. No one can, not even Rosalie."

"What?"

Nia began to walk away from her, just like Edward. Bella began to follow her, trying to keep in step with her.

"Listen to me, Isabella," Nia said urgently. "As you get closer and closer to your destiny, we will be speaking to each other less and less. And do not worry about your boyfriend or your father and family, you will meet them again once more before you meet your destiny."

"I will?"

"Yes. Listen to me, once more. My powers are growing, but they only come in short spurts," Nia explained as they walked nearer to the woods. "When you meet Master Yen Sid, you must explain this to him. You must also ask him to teach you more about the Heartless, and also about the Nobodies. I fear they will be much trouble to you in the future."

"But what about my world?" Bella asked her frantically. "What am I going to do to get my world back?"

Nia stopped in her tracks, her eyes glazing over before they focused on Bella's face once more. "You will butt heads with Maleficent to take back your world. Do not worry, you will not be alone. You will be joined by another with a similar destiny."

Bella stopped and watched her walk away.

"But," Bella protested. "Where are you going?"

Once again, Nia stopped. Bella watched as Nia removed her sari from her face and she sucked in a breath. Her face was angular and her cheek bones were prominent. Nia smiled at her, her face lighting up beautifully.

"Don't worry about me, Isabella," Nia whispered. "I'm going to where I'll be needed. You need to wake up now."

"What?" Bella asked for the millionth.

"You need to wake up."

"WAKE UP, DAMMIT!" Rosalie screamed in her ear. "I LET YOU SLEEP LONG ENOUGH!"

Bella sprang up in her bed and rolled over onto the floor in a fright. She glared up at Rosalie who stood over her with her fists on her hips.

"We're here," Rosalie said to her quickly. "The buffoon said we're at Yen Sid's. Final-fucking-ly."

The Mysterious Tower. That was the name of the small land that Yen Sid called his own. It was an interesting looking tower, but what was more interesting was that the small piece of land that the tower was located on, was floating in the middle of all the black space.

Cid began to unload a couple of boxes. Bella decided to make one last meal for Cid as a thank you for getting them to Yen Sid's. Rosalie decided to opt out on any manual or culinary labor. She took advantage of the bathroom to freshen herself up. When she came out, her blond hair was in a high pony tail. She had taken off her cashmere sweater to reveal a silk tank-top. Her make-up was once again perfect.

Bella blew a piece of hair off of her face and groaned. She was sweaty from the heat of the galley stove, her hair was in disarray, and she was certain that her clothes were beyond wrinkled and stained. Standing next to the impossibly beautiful Rosalie… She felt like a bum.

For once she was actually quite thankful for the attention when Rosalie gave her a once over and then proceeded to drag her into the bathroom. Rosalie brushed, braided and then set her hair into an elaborate braid bun. The vampire than proceeded to wash her face and apply some foundation that she had slipped out of her back pocket.

"Thank you, Rosalie," Bella whispered, looking at the blond vampire through the mirror.

Rosalie smiled slightly and nodded. "Sure, Bella."

They both met Cid, who was loading the boxes onto a large dolly. He smiled when he caught sight of them.

"Looking good, ladies," Cid commented merrily, ignoring the venomous glare that came from Rosalie. "Oh, and thank you for the food, Nia. I tell ya, I'm gonna have some leftover for the trip back. Which is a good thing. Man's gotta eat, after all."

Bella shrugged. "It was no big deal, Cid. I used to cook all the time for my Dad. And uh, do you think you could call me Bella."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said yer name was Nia, kid?"

Rosalie growled. "Can we just get off this sardine can and get into the damn tower?"

Cid blew out a breath of air before he began to push the dolly forward. "Follow me, ladies."

They followed his off of his Gummi ship and onto the small scrap of land that the tower was situated on. There was a breeze and it was crisp and cold. Rosalie being a vampire did not feel it, but Bella did. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed at her arms for warmth.

"It's freezing," Bella said somewhat loudly, her teeth chattering.

"That's 'cause we're so out in the middle of all this black space," Cid commented as they drew nearer to the tower. "There's not a sun near here. It's basically Master Yen Sid's magic that lights this whole place up and keeps the grass growing. He keeps it pretty warm inside though."

"What the hell happened to the rest of this world?" Rosalie asked.

"What do you think, sweet cheeks," Cid leered. "It was attacked by heartless. Master Yen Sid was only able to save this little bit of land that was surrounding his tower."

For once, Rosalie ignored his comment. She looked about the small piece of land that Yen Sid called his own sadly, cursing the heartless mentally. The blond vampire wondered how many people or other beings had also called this world their own; she wondered how many had lost their lives. And then she didn't want to wonder anymore. It was simply too sickening for her to imagine the countless children who had their hearts feasted upon by the heartless.

Bella and Rosalie pushed the large doors open while Cid struggled to pull the dolly up the stairs. At the last moment Rosalie let go of her door causing Cid to yell in alarm. Cid swerved the dolly to Bella's side and nearly ran her foot over.

"Gee," Cid said sarcasm. "Thanks, Blondie."

"I live to serve," Rosalie snarled with a stink eye.

Once they had closed both of the tower doors, they finally took the time to look about the place. The tower was not a large one in Bella's opinion. Though thankfully, it was warm. Not only in temperature, but also in the color of the place as well. Neutral and non bright colors made the place inviting.

"Whoa," said Rosalie suddenly, loudly. "Would you get a look as those large ass stairs! They go on forever too…"

Slouching heavily, Bella groaned and closed her eyes. "Uhhgg, please don't tell me we're going to have to lug ourselves all the way up these stairs….? Cid?"

Both of them turned to the blond gummy ship pilot that had brought them here. The place that he had previously been occupying with his dolly, was empty. As they both frantically looked around they found him to be nowhere in sight. He had vanished, it seemed, into thin air. Which was not possible, seeing as the welcoming room of the tower was exceptionally small and they could see around the whole room with just a quick rotating glance.

There was suddenly a soft ping of a bell and the sound of a squeaky elevator echoing through the small tower room.

"Oh hell no," Rosalie thundered. "If there was an elevator lift that the bastard knew about and neglected to tell us about, I'm… I'M GOING TO SUCK HIS BLOOD!"

Bella gasped in outrage and stomped her feet. She fisted her hands and gave a frustrated yell. Rosalie jumped at the unexpected yell that had come from her brother's human ex-girlfriend and turned to give her a bewildered look. The vampire had most certainly never seen this human girl this mad before.

Pouting, her knuckles white from the fisted exertion, Bella turned and began to stomp up the stairs. She grumbled angrily to herself all the way.

"… Friggin' rude ass…," Bella grumbled, her eyes blazing. "…. Foot in his ass…. geriatric…"

A blond haired blur suddenly rushed past her. Bella bumped into a solid wall of rock and stumbled back with a yelp. She flayed her arms around trying to keep her balance. Falling down the stairs was most certainly not a way she wanted to go.

A perfectly manicured hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, and Bella looked up. Rosalie stood before her. Even with a frown, Rosalie looked as beautiful as ever. It seemed that the blond vampire had been the wall that she had walked into.

"Here," Rosalie said quickly, turning and showing the human girl her back. "Hop on! I'll piggy-back you the whole way up. It'll be quicker this way."

As soon as Bella was secured on her back, Rosalie took off like a flash of lightning. Clenching her eye lids closed from the wind, Bella held on as tightly as she could. It was exactly two seconds before they suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Bella let out a soft 'oof' at the sudden stop.

"Shit!" Rosalie shouted out in frustration. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

Opening her eyes, Bella let out a small gasp at the what stood before them. A dozen or so different kinds of heartless stood before them. They stood as tall as a five year old to around seven feet tall. The smallest of them all, Bella had seen before. They looked the same as the one that had attacked her in the forest. The largest of all the heartless was almost as wide as he was tall. It was big bellied and with each waddling step it took toward them, Bella could feel the vibration from Rosalie's back.

"Looks like we're going to have to get through a fucking army before we see this Yen Sid dude," Rosalie growled, allowing Bella to slide off of her back. "You're going to have to take out that fancy looking sword of yours."

Bella nodded to the blonde vampire, her eyes on the slowly advancing heartless before them. With a flurry of gold and blue sparks, the sword appeared in her hand. She grinned, actually feeling excitement bubbling up in the pit of her stomach.

"Not a problem."

Seeing the grin on Bella's face, Rosalie returned it. The gorgeous vampire barred her teeth at the heartless and crouched down; her fingers were extended like talons.

"Lets take out the small ones first," Rosalie commanded.

Bella nodded. "I got it. We'll work our way up."

"Yep," Rosalie let out a vicious snarl as a heartless lunged forward to nip at her knee with it's diamond sharp teeth. "That fat bastard over there is too slow to be considered a problem yet."

The same heartless that had lunged to take a bite out of Rosalie, lunged again. Rosalie grabbed the little monster from around the throat while it was in mid air with her a lightning fast reflexes. With a hard squeeze, it's head popped off with a disgusting squelching sound. Bella gagged but then breathed a sound of relief when the little demon disappeared in a black mist.

Together they took out everyone of the smaller heartless. Bella felt so alive as her sword cut heartless down effortlessly, her hits sure. Her footing actually felt and looked graceful as she turned and twirled out of the way of lunging heartless; her sword swung easily as it cut into the little bastards. Taking her time, Rosalie was actually having fun. At human pace she dismembered the various heartless to pieces, showing and taking her anger out on them.

When all the little heartless were finally gone, Bella and Rosalie stood side by side.

"That was pretty fun," Rosalie commented as she inspected her nails for any breaks.

"Yup," Bella chimed in with a quick puff of air. She was a little winded. "Let me get my breath back before we take that big one."

Both females turned to look at the big bellied heartless as he continued to waddle his way over to them. They sniggered as they watched his slow waddle toward them. The big bellied heartless suddenly stopped at the sound of them laughing. His stubby hands fisted and his round body began to glow and vibrate.

"What's it doing?" Bella asked with wide eyes, her sniggering abruptly halted.

Rosalie sneered at it. "Eh, it's probably mad cause we were laughing at - SONUVABITCH!"

Bella and Rosalie dived away from their previous spots, in opposite directions as the glowing heartless suddenly charged at them. The heartless rammed into the wall with his big belly and looked around in confusion. Both girls gaped at each other from opposite sides of the small circular room. The heartless impossibly bounced back onto his feet and with a quick look between the two girls, turned and began to waddle towards Bella.

"Ack!" Bella scrambled up from where she threw herself and faced the huge heartless head on with her blade in her hand.

Rosalie flashed to Bella's side and together they watched as the heartless waddled toward them. With a soft snarl, Rosalie suddenly launched herself at it, her hands ready to sink into the severely obese heartless and tear it to pieces. Bella watched in shock as the heartless suddenly thrust it's protruding belly out and bumped Rosalie; the blonde flew through the air and landed on her ass in the middle of the room. She was once again by Bella's side in a flash, only this time with an angry scowl and a bruised ego.

"You okay?" Bella asked while never taking her eyes off of the slowly advancing heartless.

Rosalie grumbled. "Yeah… That fat bastard is quick. I think I got a plan."

"Spill."

"Okay then. Since this bastard seems to be very aware of it's opponents in front of it, we'll try to attack it from behind. Hopefully it's not so fast turning around. Get that pretty sword of your's ready."

The heartless suddenly stopped once more. His stubby hands clenched and once more he began vibrate at a rapid speed. Anticipating that the heartless was about to charge at them, Bella and Rosalie nodded to each other. As soon as the heartless threw it's body at them they dashed out of the way frantically.

"Kill it now!" Rosalie yelled out.

Bella sprang forward as the heartless began to slowly rotate in their direction. She brought her blade up and then with a powerful thrust downwards it sunk into the fatty, vulnerable back of the heartless. Almost immediately the obese heartless exploded into a black mist that quickly dissipated away.

"Nice," Rosalie commented as she began to fix her hair and arrange her clothes back into their normal neatness. "Let's get the hell out of here and meet this master Yen Sid already."

"Yeah," said Bella, nodding. "More heartless might come."

After a short break Bella was once again on Rosalie's back. At lightning fast speed Rosalie ran up the stairs once again. Unfortunately they ran into two other very similar circular rooms full of heartless. At the third room Bella was more than a little winded.

"Why can't these bastards just stay dead?" exclaimed Rosalie as she helped Bella back onto her back. "Is it just too much to ask?"

Bella snorted at the vampire's comment as they ran out of the circular room and up a new staircase. It was a different set of stairs then the last three and both Rosalie and Bella let out breaths of relief.

"Thank you, sweet deity," Bella muttered under her breath as she tried to look around Rosalie's hair. "I mean, how tall could this friggin' tower be anyway? It sure as hell didn't look so tall from the outside."

As they approached the door, they took in the difference of it in comparison to the other doors. Bella slid down until she was shakily on her feet. She reached for the knob and twisted it. The door clicked and then squeaked open. Rosalie followed behind as Bella walked at a snail's pace into the room, taking in the sights of the dim room. The walls were beige and there were books everywhere, along with a couple pots and a chest here or there. In the middle of the room there was a large table. A stern looking man dressed in blue robes and a pointed wizard's hat sat behind the table.

"I believe that Cid said you have business with me," he said to them, his voice deep and British.

There were two wooden chairs in front of the table and he waved his hand toward them. "Please, be seated."

They hesitantly took their seats. Well, _Bella _was hesitant. She didn't know why but she felt as if she should be bowing or curtsying to this old man. There was something regal about him, something _royal_. Rosalie on the other hand, she didn't give a shit at the moment. All the heartless had got her into a mood. She sat her behind heavily on the wooden seat, though she was careful not to use too much of her vampire strength to demolish it to splinters. She crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest, her face was blank.

"You do know that all those stairs are a pain in the ass, right?" Rosalie asked outright, almost in a rude tone.

Bella's eyes bulged forward and she whispered furiously to the vampire under her breath. "R-Rosalie! Have some respect!"

Yen Sid chuckled roughly and the smile on his face was short lived. "Yes, I do know. They are a precaution for my enemies or just for those who are a plain nuisance to me. I really have no idea why Cid neglected to inform you of the lift behind the stairs."

Rosalie saw red and before she burst out the obscenities that were filling her mouth about the blonde haired gummy ship pilot, Bella butted in.

"I'm sure he was just in a hurry and forgot," Bella said in a rush, her cheeks reddening darkly at the murderous looks Rosalie was throwing her way. "Anyway, we came because Nia sent us. Well, actually she sent _me_."

Master Yen Sid's face darkened and his nostrils flared. "How did she go about contacting you?"

"Err," Bella was taken about by his sudden change in demeanor. "She didn't. I mean, one day her voice just popped up in my head… The exact same day that I woke up in another world after the heartless attacked _my _world."

Rosalie coughed. "_Schizo_."

Bella glared and Yen Sid's mouth twitched. It seemed that Rosalie had forgotten that she had also heard the woman's voice.

"I need for you to relay to me all that she informed you," Yen Sid demanded. "This is of the utmost importance."

"What is so important about this chick?" Rosalie asked as respectful as she could.

"Nia is a very important young woman," answered Yen Sid. "Not only for her world, but she is an important person who was supposed to be kept safe. Unfortunately an enemies minions were able to get a hold of her; to extort from her all of her pure abilities."

"Pure abilities?" both girls asked at the same time.

"Yes," the old man nodded gravely. "Nia Purinsesu, who was born on Earth, is of Indian decent. She is also a Princess of Heart."

Bella gasped, while Rosalie bit her lower lip. "She's a royal of India?"

Yen Sid shook his head. "No, she is an American citizen with Indian decent. A princess of heart is merely a maiden, whether they be royal or commoner, with hearts of pure light. Meaning they are devoid of the darkness that inhabits the hearts of others.

"There are few people, whether they be male or female who are born naturally free of darkness. An evil wretch by the name of Maleficent -"

Bella wrinkled her nose at the name and muttered to herself.. "Jeez, who the heck names their kid _Maleficent_?"

Rosalie snorted and leaned sideways. "She must have been an ugly baby…"

They snickered together before putting their attention back onto Yen Sid, who did not seem to have noticed their exchange while he droned on.

"- has gathered together as many princesses as she could find for her endeavor."

"Which is?" Rosalie butted in before the old man could drone on again.

He glared at her. "Maleficent wishes to open the Door to Darkness with their hearts. She wishes to harness the power of the universe once it is released from behind the door."

"Oh. Shit." Bella blurted.

"Yes," Yen Sid frowned in her direction. "Indeed."

The old man stood from his seat with a groan. "What she requires of Nia, I do not know. She already has seven princesses in her clutches… Maleficent requires their hearts, and if she has taken Nia's heart, presumably of course, how was she able to contact you?"

There was silence as Yen Sid turned to look out of a star shaped window. Rosalie and Bella both glanced at each other as the silence went on.

Bella suddenly turned to Yen Sid. "Please tell me that question was rhetorical, 'cause… I don't really know the answer to that."

The blonde vampire at her side snorted in amusement and rolled her eyes. Yen Sid shook his head.

He began to walk to a large stone door. "You both shall stay here for the time being. I have no doubt that Nia would like me to assist you both in anyway I can."

Bella began to follow after the man. Rosalie went to the star shaped window and looked out, admiring the stars of the black space.

"That would be good, actually," Bella said with a smile. "Nia told me to ask you for your help. I suppose she thinks that I need help with my key sword thingy."

His steps suddenly faltered and Bella stopped herself before she could clumsily stumbled into the tall old man's. He turned and looked down his nose at her.

"You have a key blade?" he asked her, his voice gravely quiet.

"Err, y-yeah."

"Why didn't you come out with it before, girl?" he yelled, turning back around to stomp to the door. "You have a lot to learn from me young key blade mistress. I shall get you both situated in empty rooms and then your lessons shall begin tomorrow."

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**A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. I had writers block right after Birth By Sleep came out. That game really threw me off! I've changed my name as well! Please review! - RedEyedSurprise**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long again! I'm not going to discard this story!**

**Chapter Eleven**

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Standing in the shadows with his father, two brothers and Charlie, Edward glared at the passing humans. The sun was dipping down and as the darkness grew the humans of Traverse Town began to disperse. They were beginning to board up and barricade their shops, homes, etc.

He couldn't help but glare jealously at a young couple as they dashed right by him. Just before they ducked through the large door that lead to the first district, they shared a kiss. Their heads were filled with thoughts of love and lust. But lingering behind the love and the lust, there was also fear. Fear of the ever growing shadows and darkness as the sun began to set. Edward turned away from them, unable to look at them any longer.

The last month had been torture. It had been four weeks since his arrival in this town. And he had seen no sign of Bella. Nor his sister, Rosalie. Just a few days ago a gummy ship pilot by the name of Cid had arrived back from delivering his goods to various routes. The blonde old man had been the one to transport Rosalie and Bella off planet. It had taken the combined strengths of his father and two brothers to keep him from strangling the human man.

Alice and Esme had both stood back with Charlie, which surprised him the most. His sister and mother he, could certainly understand. They were not exactly creatures of violence, even if they were vampires. Alice only resorted to violence when the situation called for it. His mother Esme on the other hand, she abhorred violence. Charlie standing back with them with a sour look upon his face had enraged him.

"Why are you just standing there?" he had yelled out at the human man when his father and brothers had dragged him back to the safe house in the 3rd district. "That was the man that had gotten Bella off of this planet and away from you! Your daughter, Charlie! The least you could have done was pop him in the mouth! But you just stood there like a useless lump -"

Before either Carlisle or Esme could reprimand him for his lack of respect, Charlie had stood from his kitchen table seat and towered over his slightly shorter stature.

"Now stop right there, son!" Charlie had all but yelled back at him, his anger spurred upward by Edward's words. "Just 'cause you're a vampire whose seen more years than me by more than half a century, don't mean that I'm going to let you talk down to me like this! Don't you think for a moment that I didn't want to beat that bastard to a pulp! But I can't exactly fault him for what he did."

Edward had given Charlie an incredulous look. He had opened his mouth once more to plead his case on why the blond haired gummy ship pilot should have been stoned to death, when Charlie raised a hand. He had closed his mouth almost begrudgingly to let the human man speak on.

"Hear me out, all of you," Charlie had pleaded to the vampires present.

Edward supposed that Charlie could sense on some kind of level that the rest of them had wanted to know why as well. He could most certainly tell that his brothers at least had wanted to know from their puzzled thoughts.

"This is Bella we're talking about," Charlie had said softly with a grimace. "Now, I know her mother and I gave her the middle name Marie… But after eighteen years I can safely say that it's actually 'stubborn'. 'Headstrong', even."

The bronze haired vampire had let his head drop forward until his chin touched his chest. He felt the soft and gentle hand of his mother on his shoulder before he fell back into a kitchen seat. Defeat. He felt defeat seeping into his heart. And he understood.

"Your right," Edward had said weakly. "We wouldn't - He, _Cid _couldn't have been able to stop her even if he wanted to, save for physically dragging her back to the safe house. Which he should have."

"But how could he have, bro?"

They all turned, surprised to hear Emmett's voice. With his beloved Rosalie gone, he had not been the same. He was much more subdued, only occasionally cracking a joke here or there. His face, which had always had a goofy grin, was somber and serious. Edward had only seen that look elsewhere. On himself.

"He didn't know who Bella and Rose were," Emmett had said quietly. "Or the why of it. Just that they wanted to go see some old dude; some master or something. And anyway, Rosalie was with her…"

He smiled wryly, almost wistfully down at his shoes. Edward frowned. How could he have acted so selfishly this entire time? He had been thinking non-stop about Bella that he had forgotten completely that his sister was also missing. Emmett's voice was soft and tender as he spoke of his wife.

"I don't think anyone, vampire and most certainly not human, could be able to strong arm Rosie out of doing something she wants to do. Shit, I know I can't."

A large hand landed on his shoulder and Edward snapped out of his thoughts. He was back in the shadows with his two brothers, father and Charlie. Coincidently, it was Emmett's hand on his shoulder. Edward allowed a small up turn of the corner of his mouth.

"The sun is just about gone," Emmett murmured to him.

Edward hummed in agreement.

"You're thinking pretty deep there, bro," his taller, burlier brother commented, returning Edward's slight smile.

Edward sighed and ran a hand through his already messy bronze hair. He nodded to his brother while simultaneously keeping an eye on the darkening sky. The sun had already disappeared behind the Traverse Town buildings, which weren't even that tall.

"You can't exactly blame me though, can you?"

"Definitely not," Emmett replied, his slight smile turning into his familiar dimpled grin, and Edward was reminded of how much he missed it.

Not only had they had to deal with the situation of Bella and Rosalie running off, but also many other minor , but still important, details. Such as Bella's new fangled sword, and the sudden disappearance of their lust for human blood. In that moment as the thought passed through his head, Edward took the time to look toward his blonde haired brother.

Jasper stood tall next to their even blonder father. While his arms were crossed over his chest and his face was devoid of emotion, Edward could tell from Jasper's thoughts that the blonde haired vampire was calm, cool and collected. Without the added burden of the blood lust and the burning in their throats, Jasper was feeling absolutely wonderful. Of course he still had the regular emotions to deal with, but without the bloodlust his control on his powers and the control on his own body was much easier to deal with.

Edward caught Jasper's eye, and the Southern vampire couldn't help but wink over to his bronze haired brother. Not even a human heartbeat later, an elderly human woman came walking as quickly as she could out of the first district door. She had a long cloak draped over and around her, a shawl partially covering her hair. A mighty gust of wind blew the shawl off of her head and to the floor. Before the woman could even begin to bend down to retrieve it from the floor, Jasper was by her side, handing it to her.

If there were any opportunities to interact with any humans, Jasper was the first one to step forward with his Southern charm and manners. He could often be seen in Charlie's company. Those two were as thick as thieves. In fact, the whole family had gotten considerably close to Charlie.

"Here ya go, ma'am…," Jasper began to drawl out, until he got a look at her face. "Erg.."

The old woman smiled at him, her teeth an ugly greenish yellow. There were a few warts on her face, and her eyes were as black as beetles. Edward and Carlisle froze while both Charlie and Emmett sucked in a breath. Similar grimaces appeared on both Charlie and Emmett's face as they looked on. There was no kind way to put it. The old woman was simply dumpster fire ugly.

"Oh," she crooned to Jasper with a flutter of her crusted eyelashes. Her voice was reminiscent of finger nails on a black board. "What a gentleman! I do love my men with manners!"

If it was possible for a vampire, and it seemed so, Jasper was turning green as the woman began to lean toward him, her scaly and chapped lips puckered. Edward could hear the frantic prayers coming from his blonde haired brother's thoughts.

'_Oh God! Oh God NO!'_

And then there was the very similar, yet gagging thoughts that were coming from both Charlie and Emmett. His father, who was now beginning to show a grimace, shook his head so fast that no human would have been able to catch it.

'_Take it like a man, son,' _Carlisle thought with a wince.

They all turned away from the gruesome scene as the old woman's lip brushed Jasper's marble hard cheek. While Charlie couldn't exactly hear the old woman's dried skin scrape against the marble like skin that was Jasper's face, the rest of them could. It was an odd sound, like a bristly scrub brush that was scraping against a floor.

'_Oh, pooh… My poor baby. I was too late. Oh well, he'll get over it.'_

Edward blinked and then turned to look down at his left. His younger sister Alice stood beside him with a small grin upon her face. Contrary to her thoughts, she didn't look too sad about what had happened to her husband. He narrowed his eyes as he inspected her facial features. It sure as hell looked as if she was holding back a snigger as they all watched the old woman hobble away from a frozen and horrified Jasper.

He shook his head at her and rolled his eyes, a teasing smile beginning to form on his lips. "You didn't warn him on purpose."

Alice glanced at him, biting her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Why?" he asked. "I would think this would be something you would want to spare Jasper from. I mean look at him."

They both turned their gazes back to Jasper. The blonde haired vampire's feature were molded into mortification as he skulked back to their sides. He looked slightly traumatized, to say the least. The corner of Edward's mouth twitched as he held in the snicker that was trying to fight it's way out. He chanced a glance at his beloved younger sister. Alice was covering her mouth with both of her hands, trying to keep her laughter in.

_I thought maybe you needed something to cheer you up. Something to get you laughing._ Alice thought to him, giving him a sweet smile. Edward returned it and he sorely wished that she could feel all the sibling love that he was throwing her way. Unfortunately no, the empathic powers belonged to her husband. She winked a golden eye at him before skipping away to her beloved Jasper.

"Oh, my poor baby!" she cooed as she wrapped her small arms around his neck, successfully bringing his head onto her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Jasper breathed in her scent and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I am now that you're here."

And she was right. For that short moment, Edward's thoughts were on his family. He watched as Jasper and Alice whispered sweet nothings to each other, holding each other lovingly. Emmett, Carlisle and Charlie stood side by side near the water fountain that was nearest to the 1st District door. They talked softly to each other, their shoulders shaking when something remotely snicker worthy was said. Edward was delighted to see a spark of life in his brother Emmett's eyes as he threw back his head and let out a thunderous guffaw that echoed throughout the 2nd District square.

As total darkness over took Traverse Town, the many lamps and candles lit on automatically. The florescent signs over the many businesses in the 2nd district lit up in their many different colors. Edward's attention immediately turned to the two water fountains that lit beautifully.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Edward tensed and turned his surprised attention to the person who was now standing at his side. Leon was the last person that any of the other vampires would find themselves talking to. Jasper couldn't stand the tortured and melancholy emotions that radiated from the man. Emmett, even in his temporarily depressed demeanor, was still too immature to even be in the human's presence. Esme felt slightly uncomfortable in the man's presence after what had happened on the first day she had arrived in Traverse Town. To Charlie, Leon had only had one or two conversations over the last few weeks. But he was human. It was quite possible that _that _detail was the only reason Leon spoke to Charlie.

Only Carlisle and Edward (out of all the vampires) were able to hold semi normal conversations that were anything besides , "hello, how are you?", "nice weather we're having huh?", and even (this from the immature man-pire Emmett, which was the first and last time Leon had spoken to him) "dude, did you just fart?"

"Yes," Edward answered quietly, turning his gaze back to the fountains. "It's very beautiful."

"In the daylight," Leon murmured. "This world sometimes reminds me of my home world… Before it was ravaged by heartless."

Through the man's memories Edward caught a glimpse of immense water fountains galore. The roads and walks were cobble stoned grey and there were countless flowered courtyards. The architecture of the homes and businesses were old, yet they fit in their own unique way. The people were kind and dressed unusual, but there was no doubt about Leon's memories of his home world. It was a beautiful place.

But just as sudden as Edward caught the glimpse, it was gone and replaced. Replaced by darkened and stormy skies. People were running to and fro, frightened expressions on their faces as literally hundreds upon hundreds of heartless swarmed into the city.

Edward's face screwed up as he watched the memories play out. There was an enormous and enchanting looking castle in the middle of the vast city that took the penny haired vampire's breath away. It was just simply breath taking. He recognized the faces of Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud and Merlin. Merlin looked very much the same as he did now, but Yuffie, Aerith and Cloud looked younger. They were scared, but determined as they fought off the heartless with their different weapons, Aerith healing them at times when they grew fatigued. They looked so different, so young.

The vampire turned to the human then. "Leon?"

Leon glanced at Edward with just an upturn of his eyebrow.

"How long have you been in Traverse Town?" Edward asked, interested.

"Years," Leon answered with a sigh. "We've been here for years, waiting for some kind of notice from our home world."

Almost immediately as Edward heard this, his heart sank. If Leon had been here in Traverse Town waiting for news from his home world for years…. Then what was the likely hood that the Cullen Clan and friends would be able to go back to their own world anytime soon. This whole time they had been subconsciously fooling themselves into thinking that everything would be okay and that they would be back on their planet in no time. But who was to say that their planet hadn't been swallowed completely by heartless and faded away into the darkness.

And in reality, how many other people had survived the attack from Forks, WA? Who was to say that Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley had not survived. Or even some of the Quileute tribe. For all they knew they could have survived and were presently sheltered on other worlds.

"Which reminds me as to why I am even speaking to you in the first place," Leon said with some bite in his voice, interrupting Edward's deep thoughts. "As I said, we have been waiting for some kind of notice from our home world for many years now. While Cid was on his normal delivery routes, he decided to take a little detour to see if our world was still in existence.

"And that is an affirmative."

Edward took an unneeded gasp of breath at the news. The news had been so quick that even he had been unable to pick it out of the human's thoughts. He turned and watched as Leon took his time with continuing on with whatever else he wanted to say. Edward grinded his teeth in the suspense of it all.

Finally, Leon continued, though he was much more somber. "Granted, that our once beautiful world is now a shadow of itself… It is now called Hollow Bastion. Or so Cid has said."

The vampire could not help the grimace that appeared on his face when he mouthed the name of Leon's home world. Hollow Bastion was not a good name, and it was certainly not a name that he would label the world that he had glimpsed in Leon memories. Edward didn't think he wanted to know what had became of Leon's beautiful home world if it's name was now Hollow Bastion.

As if he were the mind reader and not the vampire in his presence, Leon sighed. "My home world was once called Radiant Garden."

Now that was a name that fit perfectly to the beautiful memories Edward had glimpsed.

"We, and I mean Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud, Cid and I," Leon said quickly, "have gathered in Merlin's hut for a meeting. We discussed whether we should return to our old home world or not."

"Then what does that have to do with me?" Edward asked, now even more confused.

With a gentle nudge with his mind reading abilities, it all became clear. Though, since none of the humans besides Charlie knew of his mind reading abilities, he allowed Leon to say it to him.

"Not just you," said Leon as he looked out into the square. "Your whole family… And Charlie."

In front of them, as the sky turned dark and the stars began to twinkle down at them, the heartless began to appear. The black little monsters with bulbous eyes appeared out of the cobble stone. Edward watched calmly, but with wary eyes as the heartless slinked around. Emmett, Jasper and Charlie were right on them in an instant. Alice stood by with Carlisle. They watched the three males work efficiently and quickly.

"The girls have persuaded me into asking you all for them," grumbled Leon. "We would like to know whether or not you and your family would like to accompany us. You can get back to Aerith with an answer later. We don't plan to leave for a couple weeks yet."

Edward turned fully to Leon with a nod. "That is very kind of you all to ask. But I must give this information to my family patriarch."

"That is to be expected," Leon nodded before he walked away from Edward.

Edward sighed as he watched the man walk away. This was a kind and considerate offer. But it was an offer that the whole family and Charlie would have to debate on. And there was already no doubt in Edward's mind what the answer to this offer would be.

It would be a resounding no. From each and every one of them.

It was important for them to remain on the world known as Traverse Town. They would all remain on Traverse Town and wait for Bella and Rosalie to return.

Edward took this time to raise his eyes to the sky. He wondered where Bella and Rosalie were and if they were thinking of the family, and he watched as the millions of stars twinkled down at him. One particular star caught his eye. It was winking rapidly and gave one bright sparkle, before it disappeared altogether.

He desperately hoped that neither Bella nor Rosalie had been on that world.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"Again!" Master Yen Sid shouted.

Bella groaned as she pushed her bruised body up from the floor. Rosalie stood with ease and a snarl to the heartless Master Yen Sid had released onto them. In one hand she clutched a two foot long wizard's staff that had been given to her by Yen Sid. The wood of the staff was a red so dark it was almost black_. _Dressed in new clothes magically tailored for them by the three good fairy godmothers Fauna, Flora and Merryweather; they had been training for the past month with Yen Sid.

After hours of vigorous training everyday, Bella ached in places she never knew she could ache in. She couldn't help but give a glare to Rosalie's well dressed back. The way the three good fairy godmothers had dressed Rosalie was actually phenomenal, but Bella wasn't mad about that!

You see, while she was a human who was capable of feeling the aches and pains that all this training was causing her, Rosalie was a vampire. Rosalie's energy was never-ending, and she was learning at a faster pace, thus the hours of her training grew shorter and shorter until Master Yen Sid only required her to train just two hours a day. Bella on the other had was training six hours a day. All she did for six hours straight was battle a never ending barrage of heartless.

"Firaga!" Rosalie snarled out, setting a couple of ground heartless on fire.

Master Yen Sid suddenly barked out, "Rosalie, you're done!"

Rosalie was immediately at the old man's side, bowing at the waist. Over the last few weeks she and Bella had really embraced Yen Sid as their true teacher, a Master. Their Master.

"Thank you, Master!" Rosalie said before she blurred out of the room.

Bella had no doubt that the blonde vampire would be perusing Master Yen Sid's magical library. Rosalie was now incredibly adept with her staff. Where once all the training that Master Yen Sid had given would take years for one apprentice, it had taken only a month for Rosalie with her vampire mind.

"Do not remain idle, Isabella!" said Master Yen Sid strongly, snapping Bella out of her thoughts. "Remain aware, always! Use your key blade

With her key blade, Bella struck out at the heartless nearest her. Her sharp blade cut through them neatly, decapitating the one closer to her level. They erupted into a black mist and evaporated away. Her muscles ached and there was a pain in her ankle from a previous fall. Sweat dripped down her brow and to the floor as she lunged forward to meet the next barrage of heartless, but she stopped abruptly when Master Yen Sid's voice rang out in the training room.

"Enough!"

The heartless disappeared at the sound of Yen Sid's voice. Bella lowered her sword, gladly. It disappeared in a flurry of sparks and Bella placed her hands onto her knees, her head bent as she tried to catch her breath.

"You have done well, Isabella," Master Yen Sid's voice bounced off of the stoned walls of the room. "You've shown great progress in your abilities to wield the key blade."

Bella stood straight with a grin. She then bowed at the waist in the same way that Rosalie did, pleased at the praise. When she stood straight once again, he waved a hand at her, beckoning. She followed after him as he began to walk out of the room and into the very room that she and Rosalie had met him in. he sat himself in the chair behind the table, which held various books on different topics.

Seconds later Rosalie walked into the room with a large tome opened in her hands. With just a glance at both Bella and Master Yen Sid she snapped the tome shut and set it onto the table.

"You have both progressed much faster than any other apprentice," Master Yen Sid said to them as Rosalie took her place beside Bella. "I am very satisfied with the abilities you both have learned… and I have nothing else to teach you two in the realm of self defense and combat."

Both Rosalie and Bella looked astonished. They were astonished, yet relieved that their training from Master Yen Sid was over. But what would they do now? During this whole month, Bella had not heard a word from Nia Purinsesu in quite some time. Was there possibly a way for Bella to get in touch with her?

"I am very proud to inform you both that your training has ended," Master Yen Sid suddenly said with a satisfied and proud look upon his face. "Your studying however, has only just begun."

"What do you mean, Master?" Rosalie asked immediately.

She was wondering what else she would need to cram into her vampire mind. Rosalie had already read through more than fifty books about magic and how to manipulate it to it's fullest. What else was there to possibly learn? For the past month, Bella had been breathing in every little bit she could about her key blade. What else was there for the little human to learn?

"That is currently not at the fore front at the moment, Rosalie," Master Yen Sid said abruptly as he stood. "Follow me."

With a wave of a hand, the star shaped window elongated to the floor. It created a door that would easily allow them to walk through one at a time. Rosalie and Bella watched with wide eyes as a glowing platform beyond the door formed out. At the end of the platform was a large gummy ship.

"This," Master Yen Sid said to them as he walked out the door and onto the platform. "Gummy ship is called Highwind. I am placing this vessel into your capable hands."

Both Rosalie and Bella gasped in delight.

"Thank you," Bella gushed, her eyes bulbous as she took in the Highwind with new light. The brown haired girl couldn't believe that they were just gifted a space ship. A space ship for crying out loud!

"Master Yen Sid, you really shouldn't ha - mmff!"

Bella's words were immediately muffled by the marble hard and ice burg cold hand of her female vampire companion. They exchanged glares for a few seconds, until Rosalie abruptly pulled her hand away from Bella. She flashed a beautiful closed mouth smile to the old master.

"Thank you so very, Master!" Rosalie then began to say happily. "Don't mind Bella. She's thankful too. She just has a hard time excepting gifts of any shape or value."

Rolling her eyes, Bella grumbled curses under her breath before she directed a question to Master Yen Sid.

"When will we be leaving for our journey?" she asked. "Tomorrow morning?"

"Now."

They both turned to Master Yen Sid in surprise.

"You should both return whence you came," said the master. "You should both see your family. And you should both read through the book that I have placed in the ship. That is the material that you will be studying. The information in that book will help you greatly for when you encounter your enemies."

"Don't worry, Master," Rosalie said with a devilish smile. "We'll be able to take all those heartless bastards."

Bella grinned. "Heck yeah."

"Tread carefully, young apprentices," Master Yen Sid said with a frown upon his face, "for there are many other threats out in the universe besides heartless."

Rosalie and Bella gave each other thoughtful glances before they nodded in Master Yen Sid's direction.

"And on the way to your family you should both think through what exactly your journey is."

They turned away from the old Master to look at each other, both confused yet understanding. Master Yen Sid was right. What is their journey exactly? Was it really a journey, per say? Or was it more a quest. Where was their journey or quest to? Where did it start? Where would it end, if It would end at all? Would it lead to their demise? There were so many questions to asked amongst themselves and just as many to be answered.

After a short farewell to Master Yen Sid and the three good fairy godmothers (Fauna, Flora and Merryweather) they took off in their new gummy ship. Their destination was for Traverse Town. The ship was much roomier than Cid's ship had been, with more rooms, bathrooms and a larger kitchen. Rosalie ran her pale hand over the cock pit steering wheel with a glint in her eyes. There was no doubt that Rosalie considered herself a connoisseur of all mechanical vehicles, and with a quick memorization of the gummy ship handbook she was steering it like a pro.

Both Rosalie and Bella watched on a monitor as Master Yen Sid's tower shrank as they flew away. It grew smaller and smaller until they could no longer see it in all the black space.

"What are we going to do?" Bella asked out loud, voicing her worried thoughts. "How are we going to go about this?"

Rosalie sighed. She was almost wishing for that damn annoying no-it-all voice to come popping back into their mind again. Almost.

"Well," she began, running a hand through her loose blonde hair. "We'll do what Master Yen Sid said to do. We'll go back to Traverse Town and see everyone. My mom, Jasper and your dad. We'll just tell them what we plan to do and take off after that, I suppose. We'll simply have to find my Emmett, father, Alice and Dork-ward."

Nodding, Bella couldn't help her eye from flinching at the sound of Edward's name. Irritation bubbled up in her stomach. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't school herself into not reacting at the simplest mention of Edward's name. After all, no matter what he had said and done to her, Bella couldn't stop loving him.

"That sounds like a good plan," Bella said with a firmness in her voice. "We'll look for the rest of the family. How long until we get to Traverse Town?"

After careful studying of all the cockpit gages, Rosalie grinned. "We should get there in a day if we keep to our full speed. I have no idea why that old buffoon Cid didn't go full speed in his gummy ship! It would have saved us a lot of -"

Rosalie's words were suddenly interrupted. Lights on gages began to light up in a bright red, flashing in their eyes. A loud siren coming from various speakers sounded off like a tornado siren.

Covering her ears, Bella looked frantically toward Rosalie and she yelled over the siren. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"I DON"T KNOW!" Rosalie yelled back as she took a hold of the steering wheel and began to press onto various buttons.

"_Incoming unidentified vessel," _a computerized voice said over the siren._ "Incoming unidentified vessel."_

"OH MY GOD!" Rosalie and Bella yelled together in panic as they looked wide-eyed out of the large window in front of them.

In front of their ship, coming toward them at full speed, was a whale. The very same whale that had tried to eat them while they were in Cid's ship. It's mouth was wide open, ready to receive it's meal. Rosalie and Bella both screamed together, before the blonde vampire decided to grab onto the wheel in hopes of steering them out of harms way.

"HURRY!" Bella screamed. "GET US THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY! I DON'WANT TO BE FISH FOOD!"

"I CAN'T!" Rosalie screamed back, her eyes wide and frightened. From the look on her face, Bella was sure that if the female vampire had been human, tears would have been streaming down her face. "WE'RE GOING TOO FAST FOR US TO STEER OUT IN TIME!"

Bella sobbed and fought to get herself out of her seat, she almost tore the seat belt from it's hinges. She them lunged to Rosalie, falling into the vampire's cold embrace. Rosalie held her tightly, her wide eyes set onto the whale with it's mouth wide open. They both watched as the whale enveloped their ship.

The first time had been when she and her father had been swallowed up by the black gooey vortex in front of their house. For the second time, Bella let the darkness envelope her as she and Rosalie were swallowed into the darkened belly of a whale.

* * *

**Author's Note: REVIEW PLEASE! - RedEyedSurprise**


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